Gift ideas for her: handmade jewelry she'll actually wear

The best gifts are the ones that get worn, not the ones that get put in a drawer. With jewelry that usually comes down to one thing: choosing for her, not for yourself. Here are six ideas from our atelier in Brussels, from the easiest to the most personal, for Christmas, a birthday or no reason at all.

1. Let her choose: the gift card.

If you're not sure what she'd pick, let her pick. The Cherry PaoPao gift card comes in €25, €50, €75 or €100 and is delivered by email with a unique code. It works on everything, charms, chains, the Experience Box and the workshops in our atelier, online or in store, and it's valid for twelve months. Because it arrives by email, it's also the one that still works when you've left it late.

2. Give her the morning: a workshop.

Some gifts are better as a few hours than as a thing. In a workshop at the atelier on the Rollebeek, near the Sablon, she picks a base, chooses her charms and puts it together by hand. A solo workshop takes around an hour and a half and starts from €22, and she leaves wearing what she made. Coming with friends? Group sessions take up to ten people, and for a birthday or a hen party there's the party workshop for up to sixteen.

3. Make it together: the Duo Experience Box.

For the friend in another city, or the mum who keeps every card, the Duo Experience Box brings the atelier home. Each box is made for two people, with pliers, work mats, sixteen charms and guided envelopes, so there's nothing to buy on the side. After ordering you get a form to personalise it. The Essential box (€139) makes a bracelet or a keychain each, the Connection box (€149) adds necklaces and bag charms, and the Signature box (€159) comes with two pairs of earrings on top.

4. A charm bracelet you build for her.

A charm bracelet is the most personal gift on this list, because every charm can stand for something: a place, a pet, a habit, a joke only the two of you get. Build it online with the configurator, from over a hundred charms. If she wears her jewelry every day, look at the 365 collection: simple stainless steel charms, waterproof, made to be worn constantly, from €19. Not sure where to start? Our guide on how to build your own charm bracelet walks you through the chain, the charms and the clasp.

5. Earrings, for the one who has everything.

Earrings are an easy gift to get right. The Double Cherry (€49) is a small red cherry for each ear, handmade and a little imperfect, the way real things are. The Blossom Earcuff (€79, in silver or gold) traces a cherry blossom branch around the ear, and an ear cuff needs no piercing, which takes one question off your list. See all of them in our earrings.

6. A necklace that means something.

For a gift that says more than "I thought of you", Heart and Soul (€85) puts a handblown glass cherry and a little heart together on a vermeil chain, made by hand in Belgium. Baby Bear (€85) is a small silver bear on a strand of beads and pearls, soft and a bit nostalgic, and she can wear it around her neck, on her bag or on her keys.

How to choose.

Look at what she already wears. Silver or gold, small or bold, every day or for going out. If she has a style, match it. If she likes making things, give her the time to make one. And if you really can't decide, the gift card is never the wrong answer.