Owner Emily Wamsley creates personalized permanent bracelets, anklets and necklaces at Rustic Charm Permanent Jewelry.
Rustic Charm first opened its doors in Antique Alley in March in the location previously occupied by the Brilliance Gallery, also owned by Wamsley.
Rustic Charm Owner Emily Wamsley demonstrating how they weld the clasps shut on their bracelets, necklaces and anklets.
Antique Alley is home to many different types of shops including a bistro and bar garden, Queen Hat Co., Brown County Model Trains, Rich Hill’s Magic and Fun Emporium, Brown County Pottery, The Clay Purl, Old McDurbin Gold and Gifts and Paint Box Art Gallery is now home to Rustic Charm Permanent Jewelry.
Emily Wamsley and her husband Sean Wamsley next to their cabin before they renovated it in 2019 for the Brilliance Gallery, later Rustic Charm. The 1860 cabin was sunken 17 inches into the ground and needed nearly complete resoration.
Photos courtesy of Emily Wamsley
If you’ve ever wanted a bracelet, anklet or necklace that stays on without a clasp, Rustic Charm is the place for you.
Bracelets start out at $40, anklets at $50 and necklaces at $75 for sterling silver and go up in price for gold filled and depending on how many charms or connectors are used. Charms and connectors start at $10.
Once people pick out their jewelry designs, the pieces are sized to the body and welded shut using Tungsten Inert Gas welding.
Photos courtesy of Emily Wamsley
If you see blue, you’re in the right place. Rustic Charm’s signature color turquoise, is very prevalent in the shop’s decor.
At home in the center of antique alley shoppes, Rustic Charm Permanent Jewelry (75 S. Jefferson Street) provides the first service of its kind in the area.
Rustic Charm is a permanent jewelry shop where people can design their own bracelet, anklet or necklace to have welded onto their body without a clasp. Owner Emily Wamsley says the procedure is not painful nor nearly as permanent as tattoos or piercings. The jewelry is fit to size and welded closed.
“What we’re doing, it’s called TIG welding which is Tungsten Inert Gas so we’re sizing the jewelry to your wrist, people get to design it themselves, they pick out their chain and charms and then we use Argon gas,” said Wamsley. “A lot of people skip that part, but it’s so crucial for having a really strong, beautiful weld. So that’s really important to us. It’s a really quick process once they pick out what they want, we just close that jump ring shut and then it stays on you. I like to let people know it’s very easy to remove it if you need to for a medical reason, you can just snip off that jump ring and we can re-weld it at a later date.”
Wamsley said that while there is no regulation that requires permanent jewelry businesses to be certified, they did go through a training process.
Permanent bracelets start out at $40 for sterling silver and $50 for gold filled; anklets start at $50 for sterling silver and $60 for gold filled; necklaces start at $75 for sterling silver and $85 for gold filled. Charms and connectors are $10 for sterling silver and $15 for gold filled each.
Wamsley first opened the Brilliance Gallery which provided photographic imaging on metal in 2020 at 26-years old in the 164 year old rustic cabin where Rustic Charm is currently located.
“We came to a point where either we were going to have to pivot completely what we were doing or raise all of our prices, which I really didn’t want to do,” said Wamsley. “We were already kind of at a higher price point for Brown County. Having an entrepreneurial mind, I’m always thinking about what would go over well in Brown County. I don’t remember the exact first time I heard of permanent jewelry, but I do recall for about a year before we switched over thinking that it would be a great concept because we have so many women’s groups, bachelorette parties, bridal parties, girls nights out, it’s also great for couples too. I had played around with the idea before we knew that we were going to completely pivot the shop and we thought about just adding it on and then we decided to go all in and switch some gears. We decided to do that in January 2024 and then we reopened in March (2024) as Rustic Charm Jewelry.”
Wamsley said she enjoys doing permanent jewelry more than the metal art because it is more laid back, she gets to sit and chat with her guests and can see their creative process.
Wamsley and her family live in Franklin, but have family in Morgantown. She said that she had prior experience visiting Brown County as a kid and loved the area as well as the tourism. In 2019 they found their location for their business. “When people come to Brown County, they are not stressed,” said Wamsley. “I’ve worked in retail my entire life and it’s different when you work somewhere like this, where people are genuinely happy and excited to be here. It’s very rare that you get an unhappy person in Brown County. I mean, it happens but it’s so rare. That’s my favorite part about it.”
The shop is located in a cabin that was built in 1860 and transported to Antique Alley in the 1960s.
“It was known as the sunken cabin,” said Wamsley. “It was actually sunken into the ground 17 inches, and it was definitely vacant. The floors were sunken in, it’s called nature’s cabin. It was vacant for about five years.”
They say raising children takes a village, apparently restoric a rustic cabin does as well. Wamsley’s husband Sean Wamsley, Parents Angie and Steve Loy and Antique Alley Owners Andi and Lance Bartels helped her with painting, staining and jacking up the cabin.
“It’s come a long way, so it’s a big compliment to me when people tell me it’s adorable because I always knew it had potential, but it was in really rough shape,” said Wamsley.
Although the cabin was originally renovated for the Brilliance Gallery, Wamsley and her husband gutted the interior and renovated again before opening Rustic Charm.
Rustic Charm is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Walk-ins are welcome, but appointments are encouraged especially for Saturdays as those are the busiest. They are also encouraged for large groups.
Rustic Charm also hosts private parties and events outside of shop hours. Appointments can be made online at www.browncountycharm.com.
