One of my Christmas presents last Christmas was a reconstructed black obsidian bracelet from Thomas Sabo. Thomas Sabo is a contemporary jewellery brand established in Bavaria, Germany in 1984. They produce a range of silver jewellery and watches with an emphasis on fashion.

I first saw the bracelet on one of the stylists at my hairdresser's salon. The shiny black beads caught my eye. The bracelet has twenty one multi-faceted black obsidian beads which are each approx 1cm in diameter and threaded onto a stretchy nylon cord. Obsidian (I had to look it up, as I wasn't sure what it was) is usually found in volcanic regions, and is often used for surgical blades as well as sculpture and jewellery. The bracelet is supposed to fit on a 15-18.5cm wrist (they make 4 sizes), I am petite, so assume I received the smallest size. I stretch it to slide over my hand and it then fits securely around my narrow wrist without me worrying that it could slide off and get lost, and only has the movement of travelling up my arm about 5-6cm before my arm is too wide for it.

The bracelet also has a branded silver ring with a loop to allow you to attach up to three charms to it. These can be from the extensive Thomas Sabo collection, where the average price is £20-25 and include a variety of contemporary designs, or from other manufacturers that make compatible charms. This makes the bracelet an ideal gift, as buying additional charms solves further present buying dilemmas for the recipient.

After seeing it on the stylist's wrist, I later spotted it in an independent department store and thought the price of £26.99 quite reasonable. I have not seen them in mainstream jewellers, but think you can get them in their own stores, concessions in large department stores such as House of Fraser, and a smaller selection in independent shops, as well as direct from the website (where I think my boyfriend purchased it after I pointed it out and dropped a few hints - like e-mailing a link!). The bracelet comes in its own branded satin drawstring bag in a black and white branded cardboard box, for storage. As yet, I do not have any charms, but I shall enjoy making the selection, and am sure my boyfriend won't go too wrong left to his own devices. He is pleased that my birthday present it partly sorted anyway, in fact I think he is quite jealous that he never invented charm bracelets himself!

The bracelet is lightweight on its own - you could forget you were wearing it, but I suspect the charms would make it heavier. I tend to wear the bracelet in the evening because of its shiny blackness, it goes with evening-wear very well. But I also wear it at other times, but once it has a charm on it, it would make it harder to type or write with it on, as I wear it on my right wrist, therefore I would be unlikely to wear it in the office. I do recommend this as an affordable gift.