The present invention generally relates to inductive chargers for hand-held appliances such as personal care appliances like toothbrushes and shavers. More particularly, the present invention relates to an inductive charger for charging a hand-held appliance, comprising a charger coil surrounding a magnetic core, said magnetic core forming a charger projection adapted to be inserted into a charging recess of the hand-held appliance. The charger projection of the magnetic core may be surrounded by the charger coil so that the charger coil, together with the charger projection of the magnetic core, may be inserted into the charging recess of the hand-held appliance so as to increase the coupling factor and to achieve a more efficient energy transfer. The charger coil may be directly wound around the magnetic core and may directly contact a peripheral surface of the magnetic core so as to provide for a compact design with a reduced diameter of the core/coil assembly. The charger coil may be received and held in place within a housing projection forming holding means for holding a handpiece of the hand-held appliance in a substantially upright charging and/or storing position.
