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Monday, February 28, 2011

Trollbeads quickly became the ideal gift to give to loved ones.

From Trollbeads to Troll beads to giant sized California Trollbead,In 1976, a young silversmith, Søren Nielsen, crafted the first ever silver Trollbead. “The Mask”, so called because it had six different faces all with different expressions, was the starting point for a family legacy for Nielsen (Every family member later took on a role in the business, including Nielsen’s sister, Lise Aagaard, who later became in charge of distribution and export.) Originally only sold in their father’s small Copenhagen –based jewelers, the tiny silver beads became incredibly popular quickly, and it was not long before beads of all different shapes sizes and designs were being requested by customers.
The Nielsen-Aagard family responded to these requests over the next three decades, producing Troll beads made from all kinds of materials, including precious and semi-precious stones, gold and Murano glass. The main construct of the bracelet, which was originally made from leather, was made available in both gold and silver.
As well as being purely decorative, it was soon discovered that Troll beads could tell a story, too. As well as folklore characters such as the trolls which gave the beads their unique name, beads could be made in the style of charms found on a charm bracelet, alluding to everything from science to music, to art and everything in between.
Because of this, and because of their highly versatile nature (The bracelets later incorporated a locking mechanism, meaning beads could be added, taken away and interchanged) Trollbeads quickly became the ideal gift to give to loved ones, particularly for their collectable qualities, meaning that the wearer could collect an almost limitless number of Trollbeads, switching them and removing them as they chose.
After a brief hiatus out of the limelight, Trollbeads became more popular than ever before towards the late nineteen nineties as the trend for personalization took off. With bracelets being seen on celebrities everywhere from Emma Watson, to Jennifer Love Hewitt to Jessica Simpson, the humble Trollbead was garnering not only the public attention but that of the stars, too.
The unique design of a Trollbead lends itself to all kinds of fashions, tastes and designs, is compatible with a spectrum of differently coloured outfit and can be personalised according to the wearer’s interests and hobbies. As well as being highly collectable and covetable, the beads have also a timeless quality about them to match even traditional charm bracelets.
With this in mind, the longevity of the company comes as no surprise –and it’s still going strong, even to this day. Trollbeads have almost certainly earned their place in history as one of the most groundbreaking inventions in jewellery making ever to be designed, from “The Mask” made by a Danish silversmith, to an empire of sorts which eventually took the world by storm with their tiny, charming beads.

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