Fob or charm? What is the difference?

As visitors to my antiques shop will know I have quite an excellent selection of antique and vintage charms and fobs for sale.  Examining a quantity of these today ( from a wonderful charm necklace)  it occurs to me that there is little or no difference between many charms and fobs and many of these tiny precious objects could be used for either purpose.

Vintage Fob

What is a charm?

This is a small decorative object made of a durable material which can be worn on a necklace , bracelet, dangling from a brooch or even attached to a ring or pair of earrings.  A charm can be attached to a key ring and I have a few hanging from my handbag. A charm might have personal significance or meaning to the wearer, it can also have a practical purpose (mini pencil or knife)  however usually these are just for decoration. When worn singly on a chain a charm could be called a pendant.  Whilst a charm could be of any small size I guess that over 3 cms is getting too big for anything except hanging from a handbag,  necklace as a pendant or to be worn as a Watch Fob

Vintage charm

What is a Fob?

A small decorative object made of a durable material which can be worn on a watch chain or a chatelaine. A fob may have personal significance to the wearer however it is often just a piece of decorative jewellery or perhaps used to help anchor a pocket watch to the clothing.  Some Fobs are clearly meant to be worn as a Watch fob as they contain a watch key.  I would say that a Fob would be quite small at 2 cms and go up in size to 5 or 6 cms with most being somewhere in between.

Are Charms for Girls and Fobs for Boys?

Is the only difference between a charm and a fob other than size to do with who wears it? Perhaps its a charm for a girl and a fob for a boy? Not always true as I am sure some victorian ladies would have referred to Fobs on their albertina watch chains. Some men would carry a “Lucky charm.  

There is a huge variety of vintage and antique fobs and charms to collect whatever you call them. Just take a look at a few here:
Vintage Fobs , Antique Charms, Vintage Charms