New vs Old Pandora Christmas Charms

The new Pandora Christmas Charms Collection is out and there’s some really beautiful charms on display!

While previous Christmas Collections have included a silver Santa Claus (RRP £25) and a Christmas Tree charm (RRP £65), 2013 have given them a glorious makeover.

The new Father Christmas Charm (RRP £45) features glorious red enamel to really make him stand out on your bracelet. The new Christmas Tree Charm (RRP £40) features pave set cubic zirconia all over it, right up to the star on top. This differs from the previous Christmas Tree charm which was sterling silver with a 14k gold star on top.

Christmas 2013 updates on Christmas 2012 charms

There’s also updated versions of Santa’s sleigh, some very cute mittens, a reindeer charm, snow globe and more!

You should still be able to find the old Pandora Christmas charms available alongside their new counterparts, just make sure you buy from genuine Pandora stockists to ensure you get the real thing!

Spring Summer Collection 2013

There’s a whole host of gorgeous new charms that form part of Pandora’s Spring Summer Collection 2013.

While I hear that there will be several “drops” throughout the season to include in the collection, Pandora have started us off with three distinct themes: Cherry Blossom, Fairytale and Romance / Bridal.

Gold cherry blossom earrings

As you can guess from their name, Cherry Blossom features charms, rings and earrings that all display the beautiful oriental motif in one form or another.

Enchanted Mouse in Tea Cup

Fairytale offer some fun character charms from well known tropes, you have the frog prince – a delightful silver frog charm with 14k gold crown, the mouse in a teacup – I think maybe the inspiration for this comes from Alice in Wonderland, or did that mouse live in a teapot? – and so on.

Princess Tiara Heart CZ Pendant Charm

The romance / Bridal collection is basically targetting all the newlyweds and brides to be out there who collect Pandora. There’s a Pink bouquet dangling charm, a bride and groom charm and even a tiara charm. These will definitely prove a useful addition for anyone attending a bridal shower. i mean, doesn’t everyone own a toaster now before they get married?

Free Pandora Umbrella

Pandora have yet another great Free Gift Offer and I can’t help wondering if this was launched deliberately in conjunction with our unseasonably cold weather. Or maybe it’s just to coincide with April Showers.

The new free gift on offer is none other then a Pandora Umbrella. It looks pretty stylish too, coloured cream and featuring the Pandora logo.

Like the jewellery box gift with purchase offers that have gone before, you have to spend £125 or more to qualify for this one and it’s only available while stocks last.

Charms for Easter

If you’re wondering what to get your friends, family or loved ones for Easter, there’s a less conventional route than the usual calorific chocolate eggs. Pandora has a great range of fun charms and holy charms to satisfy everyone.

I was quite surprised when I heard there was an Easter Bunny charm coming out as part of the spring collection (He’s in the Fairytale sub-collection) as they already have a bunny charm. However, there something just extra cute about him, I think you’ll agree. And with an RRP of £30 he won’t exactly break the bank either. The other bunny rabbit is £25 though, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Pandora retire him soon, so that alone might be worth a buy. I also really adore the chick charm in terms of cuteness.

Here’s some more great easter charms.

New Cherry Blossom Jewellery Box

There’s a new Pandora Gift With Purchase special offer currently operating through all genuine Pandora stockists. To celebrate the arrival of the Spring Collection 2013, Pandora are giving away a really beautiful circular jewellery box when you spend £125 or more on your order.

The Cherry Blossom box features a central display for your bracelets as well as compartments for your charms. This might be my favourite looking Pandora Jewellery Box so far!

Free Goody Bag or Pandora Jewellery Box

free gifts

There’s a deal on right now at Beadazzle in celebration of Mother’s Day. They are offering a Free Goody Bag whenever you spend £35 or more on Pandora on their site.

They are also offering a Free Pandora Heart Shaped Jewellery box when you spend £125 or more on site.

To claim either of these offers, your order subtotal must reach the desired amount. Then you go to the checkout and will be prompted to add the free gift from there. Pretty east, actually.

The goody bag is a nice touch as the majority of charms now cost around £35 so you’re basically getting a little something extra for free with your order. It contains a large Pandora polishing cloth, branded nail buffer and nail file.

The heart- shaped jewellery box was originally part of Pandora’s Valentine promotion. The box contains a heart shaped mirror set into the lid and a heart-shaped black drawstring pouch. This si the first time Pandora has offered such a jewellery box and so there’s not all that many floating about yet. A possible collector’s item of tomorrow!

Pandora Mother’s Day Collection 2013

Mother and Son pendant charm

Pandora have just unleashed the new Mother’s Day Collection 2013 upon the UK public. Other countries, such as the USA will have to wait a while longer for the Spring / Summer Collection to be released as their Mother’s Day is much later in the year.

First impressions of the new charms suggest that Pandora are really thinking about who’s buying for Mother’s Day. As such, there’s some gorgeous dangling charms, the Mother and Daughter charm and the Mother and Son dangling pendant charm. Both of these feature two halves of a heart that join together to form one charm. On the inside is inscribed “Mother” on one half and “Son” or “Daughter” on the other.

In addition there’s a Grandmother charm, allowing grandkids everywhere to honour their grannies. There’s also a gorgeous silver Family charm which features a multitude of small smiling faces and then the words Love and Family engraved on opposite sides.

While there is already a Mum charm available, Pandora has seen fit to introduce a Mum silver heart charm. This is much in the same vein as their Love charm, which they released with the Valentine Collection 2013. The silver heart bears the word Mum or Mummy written in a number of different languages. This one’s sure to be every bit as popular as the previous Mum charm, which is, incidentally, still in circulation.

Probably the sweetest charms of the bunch or those aimed at new mums. There are three teddy bear charms available for Mother’s Day – one with a blue girl, one with a pink bow (both enamel detail) and the darling silver teddy with gold heart. Upon release, he’s proven to be a huge hit, possibly aided by the fact he’s a limited edition charm and won’t be around forever!

Olympic Jewellery

With the Olympics kicking off this Friday, how about some inspiring Pandora charms to show your support for London 2012.

Pandora have released a small, but perfectly formed collection called “Best of British” that offers some cute and some iconic charms to celebrate The Games. Actually, this range doesn’t appear to be officially endorsed by The Olympics although I believe Links of London do offer such a range. Nevertheless, we should never need an excuse to show our patriotism! Particularly adorable is the London Bus charm, complete with union jack roof. There’s also a red white and blue murano glass charm, a dangling medal charm and a couple of (very pricey!) Best of British bracelets.

 

 

Charm Bracelet Review

Here is a video of one happy customer explaining why she opted to buy a pandora bracelet, instead of a cheaper brand. The video is from 2009 and so some of the info may need updating. For instance, she mentions a lack of Pandora dangling charms when in fact they now have a huge selection of these hanging charms.

At time of writing the basic silver bracelet with Pandora clasp still retailed at £55.

What’s so great about Pandora Charm bracelets

One of the most renowned representations of a charm bracelet is from the celebrated Tiffany and Co, who offered their very first charm bracelet during 1889. It was a silver link bracelet with a single charm, a silver heart. This heart design is to this day a symbol of Tiffanys.

A bit of history…

The importance and purpose of charm jewellery has changed over the years. In wartime, soldiers would return to their homeland with charms to serve as memorabilia for their loved ones, something made by a tradesman that might be preserved and displayed as a memento of the place in which the soldier saw action. The Nineteen fifties saw these bracelets popularised by children, that would receive charms to symbolize numerous occurrences and special occasions that transpired during their childhood.

However, the newest manifestation of charm bracelets happen to have been predominantly devised in Europe, in particular Denmark which spawned local brand Trollbeads, which in turn inspired the resurrection during the seventies. These later design of bracelet incorporated a modular structure, which means that charms had been produced to match up with a certain threaded system made use of by that make. For example, rival Danish company Pandora and the current largest charm company with more than 900 variations of charms, runs on a trademarked technique which means that their charms will not be compatible with other companies’ bracelets. These threads also ensure that charms can sit securely onto their specially designed bracelet, and so the charms can be mixed and matched within their own brand.

What is a Clip or Spacer?

Aside from that, nearly all charm providers include accompanying clips or “spacers”, which are a kind of thinner charm that keep in a restricted placement on the bracelet as a technique of divvying up charms and keeping them from creeping round the bracelet. Alternative suppliers that use threading programs throughout their bracelet design include Lovelinks by Aagaard, Chamilia and Links of London.

Charms and Bracelets

Despite Europe topping the heap when it comes to producing these charm series, they have also turned out to be exceptionally desirable in the Usa. The chief drawof these more contemporary charm lines is the versatility they give the customer. Bracelets are still sold as chain links, which may take a limited number of hanging charms. Having said that, more common are the solid silver or gold bracelets which charms can be twisted onto. The bracelets are normally made with polished silver, oxidised silver, gold and occassionally leather.

Correspondingly the charms are built from a selection of materials which, along with the specific charm design can alter the price significantly. Traditionally, these beads, are manufactured from sterling silver, although there are a wide range with gold,murano glass, gemstones plus wood from sustainable sources.

Have a look here for Pandora charms sale for latest arrivals and also retired charms.