Evil Eye Charm: A Designer's Guide to Choosing and Wearing

Charm, pendant, or necklace? The words matter here

People often use these three words to mean the same thing, and I'd love to clear it up, because the difference shapes everything else on this page.

What I mean by a charm

A charm, or a pendant, is the eye itself: the sculpted, stone set piece with a loop or a bail at the top. It's the part that carries the meaning. On its own it isn't wearable, and that's on purpose.

Why I don't make an evil eye necklace

If you search for an evil eye necklace you'll find thousands of them, and most are sold as one finished object, a pendant fixed to a chain at a set length. I don't make that, and I'd rather tell you now than have you find out at checkout.

Everything I make is built on a charm lock, which is simply a clasp that opens. The eye comes off. It moves to another chain, sits beside other charms, goes from a simple cord in summer to heavier gold in winter, and one day it gets handed to a daughter who already has a chain of her own. A fixed necklace is one piece of jewelry. A charm and a chain are the beginning of something you keep adding to, and that's what I've found people are really after, even when the word they typed into the search bar was necklace.

So when I say evil eye necklace on this page, I mean a particular eye on a particular chain, chosen together. You'll choose both halves.

How to choose your evil eye

Two questions first, because they'll narrow things down faster than scrolling will. The third, what you'll hang it from, has a section of its own below.

First, where would you like to wear it?

At the neck

The most traditional place for it, and the most versatile. A pendant at the collarbone sits where you'll catch sight of it through the day, which matters more than you'd think. A talisman you never see stops doing its quiet work. My Protection pendants and Sunburst Tag pendants live here.

On the hand

A signet ring turns the eye outward, facing the world rather than facing you, which is exactly how it's meant to sit. It's also the most visible way to wear protection, and it's the piece people ask me about most.

At the ear

Studs are the quietest option, and they're what I most often suggest for a first piece of symbolic jewelry, or when you're buying for someone whose taste you're not quite sure of. Small eyes at the ears read as jewelry first and symbolism second, which suits anyone who wants the meaning without the announcement.

Second, which stone at the center?

The stone is the eye. In my pieces it does the work that blue glass does in a traditional nazar, and the choice is mostly about the life you'd like the piece to have.

• Sapphire is closest to the ancient blue, deep and cool. Choose it if you want the piece to read unmistakably as an evil eye.
• Emerald changes the whole character. Green speaks to growth and renewal rather than pure defense, and I find an emerald eye softer and a little more surprising.
• Turquoise is one of the oldest protective stones in the world and carries the most folklore of the three, warm where sapphire is cool.
• Aquamarine is the palest, and the easiest to wear every day without thinking about it.

A note on color

Different traditions give different meanings to different colors of eye, and I hold all of it lightly. Choose the stone you'll enjoy looking at. I truly mean that: the piece that works is the one you actually put on.

The evil eyes I make

There are ten, all in solid 14k gold, all made to order. They run from $575 for a pair of studs to $5,900 for the diamond set tag pendant. I believe fine jewelry should be accessible, so there's a real range here, and what every piece shares is the same foundation: solid gold rather than plating, ethically sourced stones, recycled gold and gemstones from female led suppliers, and a lead time of 14 business days, because each piece is begun after someone chooses it.

The Protection pendants

The Protection Evil Eye Pendant in sapphire and the Protection Evil Eye Pendant in emerald are the classic form: a single center stone inside a halo of small diamonds. I make these in two diameters, and which sizes are in the studio does change, so please do ask if you have one in mind.

The Sunburst Tags

The Evil Eye Sunburst Tag Pendant in sapphire and its emerald counterpart set the eye inside a radiating gold sunburst on a flat tag. The eye and the sun together are one of the oldest protective pairings there is, and the tag shape gives it a weight I love on a heavier chain.

If you'd like the fullest version of that idea, the Evil Eye Diamond Sunburst Tag Pendant in sapphire and the emerald version carry diamonds across the rays. These are the statement pieces of the group.

The signet rings

The Protection Evil Eye Signet Ring with a rose cut diamond centers a 0.47 carat stone framed in black enamel, with PROTECTION engraved inside the band where only you'll see it. The emerald signet is its quieter sibling.

A note on fit, because signets are the piece most often ordered in the wrong size. The wider shank means you'll usually want half a size to a full size up from a slim band. Measure the finger you actually plan to wear it on, which for these is often the pinky, and if you're between sizes just email us. Custom sizing is available, and resizing later is possible too.

The studs

The Turquoise Protection Evil Eye Studs and the Aquamarine Evil Eye Studs are where a lot of people begin, and I mean that warmly. They're the pair I reach for on ordinary days.

Building the necklace: your eye, your chain

This is where the charm system earns itself. You're choosing two things, and the second changes the first more than you'd guess.

Choosing a chain

Match the weight of the chain to the weight of the eye. A substantial tag pendant on a very fine chain looks unfinished, and a small charm on a heavy chain disappears.

The Cord Necklace, a waxed cotton cord with a smooth twist closure, is the simplest and least expensive way to put an eye around your neck, and it makes even a formal pendant feel relaxed. The Black Rhodium Silver Snake Chain is fluid and dark, and it makes a gold and sapphire eye look wonderfully modern. If you'd like the piece to be unapologetically gold, the Compressed Cable Chain has real presence, and the Cubetto Omega Chain Necklace is the most architectural thing I make.

One bit of care, since I've just recommended two of them. Snake chains and omega chains need to be stored lying flat. They'll take a permanent kink if they're folded or left hanging under their own weight, and that's the one thing I'd hate for you to learn the hard way.

Layering, and the extender

Most people who buy one eye end up wearing it with something else, and the trick to layering is a difference in length more than a difference in style. The Charm Extender Clip drops a charm to a second level on a chain you already own, so you get two pendants at different heights without buying a second chain.

Start with one eye and one chain, and add when a piece asks to be added. That's honestly how my own necklaces came together.

The questions people ask me before they buy

Which way should the eye face?

Outward, away from you. The eye's job is to look back at whatever it's deflecting, so it faces the world rather than the wearer. On a pendant that happens naturally, and on a signet ring it's why the design sits the way it does.

Can you buy one for yourself?

Yes, and I'm asked this constantly. There's a persistent bit of internet folklore that an evil eye only works if someone gives it to you. It isn't a rule in any tradition I've come across, and people have been buying their own protective amulets in markets for thousands of years. Buy your own.

Is it a good gift?

One of the best, and for a particular reason. A protective piece says something a pretty piece can't: I'm thinking about you, and I want you looked after. These go to graduations, to new mothers, to friends starting over. If you're not sure of someone's taste, the studs are the safest choice.

What to look for in a fine evil eye piece

Whether or not you buy from me, three things separate a piece you'll keep from one you'll replace.

Solid gold, not plated

Plating wears through at the edges within a year or two of daily wear, and it can't really be repaired, only redone. Solid 14k gold is the difference between owning a piece and renting one, and it's always worth asking which you're looking at.

Real stones

The center stone is the eye, so it's worth knowing what it is. A natural sapphire or emerald moves in the light differently than a cubic zirconia does, and anyone proud of their materials will tell you exactly what they are. Mine are ethically sourced and conflict free, and I'm always happy to talk about any of them.

Made to order, and what it gives you

My pieces are begun after you order them, which is why the lead time is 14 business days rather than two. It means nobody else has handled your piece, and it means you can ask for a different size, or talk a stone through with me, before it's made. It's slower, and I think it's worth it.

Evil eye jewelry FAQ

What does an evil eye charm do?

An evil eye charm is a protective amulet. The tradition holds that it absorbs or turns back the harm carried in an envious or ill wishing look, which is what the phrase evil eye originally described. It's worn facing outward, so that it looks back at whatever it's meant to deflect.

Is it okay to wear an evil eye?

Yes. The symbol is protective rather than sinister, and it appears in Greek, Turkish, Middle Eastern, North African and South Asian traditions going back thousands of years. Wearing one with respect for where it comes from is welcomed rather than frowned upon in every tradition I've come across.

Are there rules for wearing evil eye jewelry?

There are customs more than rules. The most consistent one is that the eye faces outward, away from the wearer. Past that, the folklore contradicts itself: some say a piece has to be given, others that a cracked amulet has done its job. Choose the piece you'll actually wear, and hold the rest lightly.

What's the difference between an evil eye charm and an evil eye necklace?

A charm, or pendant, is the eye itself, with a loop or bail at the top. A necklace is that charm together with a chain. Many brands sell the two fixed together as a single piece. Everything I make uses a charm lock that opens, so the eye can move between chains, sit beside other charms, and be restyled for years.

Can you buy an evil eye for yourself, or does it have to be a gift?

You can, and I'd encourage it. The idea that it only works as a gift is modern internet folklore rather than a rule from any established tradition, and people have been buying their own protective amulets for thousands of years.

Where to go next

If you came here for the symbol rather than the piece, start with Evil Eye Meaning, which covers the history and what the symbol has carried across cultures. For the other great protective symbol, and the one people most often wear alongside it, there's Hamsa Meaning. And when you're ready to choose, every eye I make lives in the Evil Eye collection. If you have a question, I'm always here.