Like a Charm
HART’s custom-made jewelry is imbued with authenticity, character, and—well—heart
By Jac Valitchka
You might be cool if you wear your heart on your sleeve—and a HART around your neck. Or, likely the case, more than a few: a whole jingle-jangle jewelry stack of cherry-picked charms on a chain necklace, designed in Charleston, South Carolina, by Hart Hagerty and her team.
In 2016, Hagerty launched her best-selling eponymous jewelry line, HART, and took Instagram by storm with her first piece: a silky, top-knot tassel earring in a delicious array of colors. In the nine years since, she’s phased out those dazzling danglers for custom charms, and the line has been so successful she and her team opened up a retail store in Charleston (where Gigi Hadid herself was a customer) as well as Nashville, with plans for two more store openings this year.
In her shop in Charleston, South Carolina, Hart Hagerty designs beguiling charms intended as personal talismans for those who wear them.
Hagerty, a Charleston native and mother of two daughters under the age of four, majored in Mandarin at Vanderbilt University, interned every summer at various fashion brands in New York City, and then lived in China for five years picking up valuable experience as a lifestyle editor at a magazine in Shanghai, all while making jewelry on the side.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF HART
HART’s philosophy is startlingly simple: create high-quality, “high-vibration talismans” that resonate with a customer base ranging from granddaughters to grandmothers with approachable prices that reflect the personality and hearts’ desires of those adorned with the pieces. “We try to create these talismans with real meaning, and I really believe that objects imbue a certain frequency and a power and that we do have all the good vibes when designing them,” says Hagerty, calling in while taking a work-break walk near HART’s headquarters in Charleston.
“We do high-quality manufacturing; we work with high-quality sustainable partners; and we pay our team really well—and all of those things add up. And it starts with the intention that I bring to every charm.”
THE POWER OF CHARMS
What are some of those intentions that you see stacked on their best-selling Belcher Chain, say, or on an alluring loop of less-expensive lurex?
“Charms for me are all about these lovely, powerful tokens that help you become a better version of yourself,” says Hagerty, “or help you remember something really important to you or honor something.”
The fun is in choosing your own charm from more than 100 (the likes of hearts, horseshoes, cosmic cowgirls, Lucky 13 poker chips, zodiac signs . . . all in tarnish-resistant, high-quality 14k gold plating). Pair them with the chain of your choice, a sense of self-actualization, and manifest your way to a style—if not a life—that’s as custom as you are.
THE VESTA CASE
The Vesta Case was inspired by a stroll through one of Hagerty’s favorite antiques stores. “There were antique vesta cases there, but I didn’t know what they were,” says Hagerty. “The woman who worked at the store educated me about what they were, and it turns out originally they were intended to hold matches and were made in the 1800s. I just immediately thought instead of matches, let’s make a vesta case to write down our goals and our dreams on a piece of paper.”
MEMENTO MORI
This is one of HART’s top sellers, featuring a skull and crossbones on the front, emerald green enamel on the back, with the words memento mori, meaning “remember death”—“which for some people could be kind of scary or creepy or depressing,” says Hagerty. “I think it’s because our audience shares the knowledge or the reverence for the fact that our lives are not a dress rehearsal, and every moment is a gift. I truly believe that.”
HART, 650 King St, Charleston, SC; 2309 12th Avenue S, Nashville, TN; shophart.com
Photography courtesy of HART; this story appears in our Spring 2025 issue.
