The Pandora Christmas Collection Is Here!

The festive season is upon us, and to charm fans around the world that means that we get new charms from Pandora in the new Christmas collection! This year is quite standard, but combined with a ton of new stuff from the Essences collection; we’re being spoilt with new goodies this Summer. In this post I’ll go through some pieces that I think will make great gifts, my favourites from the collection, and some styling ideas with the new charms!

Christmas Gifts – Things to think about Choosing the perfect gift for Christmas isn’t the easiest thing in the world, to be honest. If you’re looking to induct somebody into the world of charm loving and Pandora then take a look at some of the premade bracelets featured here, though it is a tad pricier. You have to pick something that they’ll love, and when it comes to jewellery it might be necessary to include the receipt in case they want to exchange it because of sizing (or if it’s really not their style). Here are some simple tricks to get a gift that’s sure to be loved this Christmas, even if they don’t have a Pandora bracelet!

One of the best things to do if in doubt is to look to the Rings and Earrings collection. These pieces are super easy to get for sizing (simply take a look at their favourite ring) and also work well for anybody’s style. This year there are some fantastic Pave rings that would be suit any style or occasion – work, going out of just weekend casual. Another great option if you don’t fancy anything you see in the new Christmas collection is one of Pandora’s simple birthstone rings. It’s an easy pick that’s personal to the receiver!

Earrings are much the same but are even easier to buy since you don’t need any sizing info whatsoever. I’m a personal fan of the Pave and Star/Heart studs, though these might be a bit seasonal in their use. The Murano drops are a great piece as well – instantly classy without breaking the bank.

For The Charm Fans – Best Picks From Christmas This Christmas collection isn’t letting up on adding in charms that are sure to become classics. For me what stood out what the Carousel silver charm (791236). I think this charm is the most detailed piece I’ve seen from Pandora in a long time with tiny heart shapes at the top, oxidised silver around a beautifully intricate horse and a tiny golden top to add a bit of colour. This is something I definitely have to see in store for myself, but the way it caught my eye made it a definite addition to the wish list.

If you’re looking to treat somebody who has a charm bracelet, then the pinecone, Christmas tree and magic silver sky charms are wonderful pieces that would work on any bracelet without setting you back too much. Overall the theme of the new charms is more around festivity and the giving season, though there are quite a few specifically around Christmas if its big in your culture. For styling your bracelet this season the festive Murano drops are a great way to elegantly bring colour to you wrist, though the splashes of red enamel in the Pine Cone, Candy Cane and Santa charms are a good way to go. As for myself, I’m looking through my collection for duotone pieces to construct a sparkling centrepiece for my outfit – which should look something like this.

The Pandora Essences Collection – Why I’m Excited!

If you’re an incessant visitor to the official Pandora site like myself, then you’ve probably seen the new page promoting the very soon to come out Pandora essences collection. If not then take a look for yourself here for the collection, though you may need to sign up towards the Pandora club to get access to the promotional materials. This is by far the most exciting collection to come out and I think it’ll be a huge success, attracting Pandora fanatic present, past and future. It seems to really embody the Pandora spirit on unique and beautiful moments and the charms are really something different with some elegant designs and different material. Here are just a few reasons why I’m so hyped up about this new collection and some of my (preliminary) favourites!

Unique Charm Meanings & Designs
Some of these charms are totally unique and just a few of the new ones that really stand to me are Faith, Trust, Health and Positivity. These ones use precious stone materials that I haven’t really seen featured in any of Pandora’s previous charms and even things like ‘Green Adventure or Aventurine ’ and ‘Magnesite’ that you don’t really see often in other jewellery brands. There are also some awesome designs that either work with the charm’s gemstone like the dark stains in the ‘Positivity’ to provide a really enchanting texture or the craftsmanship in ‘Trust’, ‘Health’ and ‘Happiness’ that embody the elegant Pandora style. I’ve had a good look at each of the new items in the collection and have got to saw that Freedom, Compassion and Honesty are my must-gets as their design and meanings really struck out to me. In addition I think Faith and Energy and pieces I’ll put on my wish list – they are virtues that I feel I need a bit more of (doesn’t everyone!) and the gemstones might help transfer some energy over.

Materials and Their Meanings
The other thing that I love about this collection is the array of new materials that they’re using. The whole reason I love Pandora is that I can remember exactly where and when I got each charm on my bracelet, giving each one meaning and significance. It’s heaps different from any other kind of jewellery in that I can wear it every day and have it as both a fashion accessory and a bracelet of memories from significant milestones in my life. Some of the materials that stand out to be are Love’s rose pink moonstone (or quartz)and Faith’s purple Amethyst that remind me of a bit of royalty.
The charms still haven’t been released, but I couldn’t be more excited for this particular collection and review them. The only hard part is choosing what to get first!

Forgotten Collection – Pandora Earrings

Everybody knows Pandora is all about the charms and charm bracelets, but not many people rave about the other Pandora collections like the earrings, rings and watches which also follow the unique and intricate look of Pandora charms and can make really nice complements when matched perfectly. It was my birthday recently and knowing that I’m a major Pandora freak in general my friends got me a few things from Pandora amongst them a pair of Pandora earrings! It got me thinking and when I looked at the extensive earring collection on the Pandora website I realised that the earrings match really well with some of my charms and bracelet themes. Here are some combinations that I think would look great:

Glass With Glass

Here are the earrings I got and I looked at a charm from the most recent collection I treated myself to a few weeks back – a black and white cherry blossom charm that I usually wear on my black leather bracelet with just a few clips and silver charms in a minimalist style. The glass on glass look goes really well together, especially the black and white theme that would look even greater on a simple summer outfit or even something more formal for the office. Anything Pandora does with glass becomes my instant favourite so I’ll be sporting this look a bit more often in the coming months.

Liquid Silver

Even the most casual Pandora collectors will have at least one of Pandora’s iconic silver charms. Some of Pandora’s most famous charms like the love heart, Scottie dog or golden nightingale have beautiful textures in shiny reflective silver, sometime contrasted with oxidised silver to make the shiny surfaces stand out even more. With earrings I saw a few on the collection that I hadn’t noticed before that would match really well with these charm styles. There are quite a few styles and designs that you can choose that’s most comfortable or appropriate for your face shape, but they all have that same liquid silver look that complements any silver charms you have perfectly. The silver look is great for more formal dresses like glass and work really well to contrast against some vibrant colours.

For Gemstone Charms

Pandora’s release of Pave style charms put gemstones in the spotlight on many people’s charm bracelets. Usually charms didn’t really feature gemstones, though a few in the new seaside collection had cute blue topaz stone embedded in eyes and pearls in the clam mouths. The liquid silver and glass earrings might clash a bit too much with these types of charms, but looking for a set of earrings with similarly coloured gemstones can make a great complement to bring out the gemstones in your charms. For the most part Pandora charms’ gemstones are in a red, blue or white and similar colours are across the earrings range to match up nicely. Have a look at the gemstone category of the charms page http://www.pandora.net/en-au/explore/products/charms#!791108TPP/subcat/11/stone/!01 for some more ideas.

Thoughts On Pandora’s New Season Collection

Living in Australia which is on the other side of the world Pandora’s headquarters in Denmark I’m used to seeing new collections from Pandora that are totally out of sync with the season that me and my fellow fanatics are living in. Sometimes it’s great with like the recent spring collection that came out in our Autumn and reminded me of some nice floral patterns. This time it’s the Summer ‘By The Sea’ collection that’s coming out in our Winter, but in Australia we’re in no shortage of Sunny weather and to top it off there an Opera House charm in this collection! A perfect addition to the theme of ‘By the Sea’ I might add and a definite must-buy for myself as a Sydney-sider and proud Aussie! As for the rest of the collection….Here are my thoughts:

European Seaside Themes

If you’re thinking of a seaside theme then a great country would be the romance and history of the Europe countryside with its villas and winding roads along the bright blue sea. Pandora is based in Denmark as I mentioned before with designers residing in Europe so it isn’t too much of a surprise that they chose imagery such as the famous gondolas of Venice and Vespas that are so popular around Italy. Personally I’m most impressed by the scooter silver dangle with extensive red enamel colouring and a cubic zirconia making a cute headlight. I could see it perfect for anybody who owned a scooter and might go well on your keychain but I’d be careful of scratching the bright red enamel coating.

Vibrant Triple Layered Leathered Bracelets

As always the pieces of each collection go amazingly well together and this Seaside collection is no different. Here we have triple layered leather bracelets that aren’t exactly meant to be stacked with charms like the more traditional single banded silver or black leather woven bracelet, but would look great either on its own or in my opinion, with just a few charms or clips spotted around the length of material. My favourite colour would definitely be the turquoise colour, perfect for the Seaside Theme and would look stunning with the scooter charm!

Cute Crustaceans

A new Pandora collection would be complete with at least a couple cute animal charms. This time around we’ve got some sea dwelling creatures with a fish, seashell and a baby crab. As usual these are the charms that really pique my interest but the seashell silver charm holding a tiny pearl that wins my favourite for the Seaside collection. If you’re looking for the perfect charm for your niece, daughter or granddaughter I’d definitely recommend the silver fish with blue topaz eyes though. A cute, but elegant and long-lasting gift for a young lady for sure!

Special Mentions

This new series of charms is jam packed with some great stuff that’s sure to be Pandora classics – I’ve got my eye on the scooter dangle in particular. In addition a few more things caught my eye: a classy cubic zirconia studded pair of tiny sunglasses, a brightly coloured beach ball and something that will definitely go on my wish list no matter what – a blue and yellow enamel beach balloon with a brilliantly details silver rope wound around it.Along with that there are some new Pandora rings that build on the stack centered ring collection that has been built up along the years and some nice earrings too.

It’s Tax Time!

Tax isn’t much of an exciting activity, but saving money sure is! Tax is due soon and I’ve getting some really out there advice on what I could claim that I wasn’t sure about. Luckily, I came across some tax tips from uBank that seemed pretty cool. I’m with uBank because my parents said the rate was the best, but it was nice of them to help with taxes (I guess it means more money in my account which is good for both of us!). There were tonnes of cool tips that I didn’t know about before that will save me heaps of money this time around. Here’s what I found:

• Self-Education: I’m currently studying part time in something related to work so apparently I can claim a ton of things that I didn’t before (doh!). Textbooks, travel between school and home and depreciation on my Macbook (anybody know how to do this??).
• Interest: Not that interesting for me, but some family have investments so yay for them!
• Car Deductions: Only if you use the car for work purposes and you have the log everything in with heaps of detail, not sure if I’m up for that.
• Computers and Laptops: Ha! If only I knew what depreciation was then maybe I could get a goldmine back because I use my laptop every day at work (designing mockups).
• Clothing: Only if it’s a uniform for work that’s ‘recognised’. But I’ve bought heaps of outfits for work… does it count!? Probably not.

Anyways I might be saving quite a bit more this with a fatter tax return thanks to these cool tax tips and I hope you might be able benefit too.

The Pandora New Season Collection

Well it’s finally out and apologies for being a little late for blogging about this fantastic new collection. It looks like the theme of the new collection is Spring, Flowers and cuteness all round which makes sense as I guess, as it’s the start of the Spring season in Europe. A bit weird since it’s Autumn here in Sunny Australia, but I guess Autumn is as good as any season for flowers and a bit of Spring cheer, and there’s a really cool Easter bunny charm that I think is the highlight of the new charms! You can see the whole collection here, but I’ll go through some of the themes and special new designs that I picked up on, as well as my personal favourites. Get ready, it’s a great collection this time around! Drop Charms The collection of charms this time around seems to be abundant with drop and dangle charms and pendants. Dangle charms are a great accessory and gives a bit of variance to bracelets. I’ve even seem some really cool bracelets with a whole dangle theme to them, though it might be hard to pull off with just Pandora charms. This collection features something that I think is particularly exciting and beautiful – Murano glass drop charms! As you might know I’m a hard core fan of Murano glass beads and charms and these dangle variations have captured my heart. A must buy! Spring Flowers in Bloom According to this press release this new range of jewellery from Pandora is about ‘the enduring beauty of cherry blossoms in Spring’. Half the collection is centred around the theme with cherry blossom earrings, pendants and charms, but if you’re a really into the theme of the cherry blossom then the show stealers here are the Murano glass cherry blossom charm that in a really subtly tinted charm which mimics that softs pink petals of the cherry blossom and the silver multi-layered ring with a pearl and pink enamel bouquet of cherry blossoms that would look absolutely perfect with a simple summer dress and sandals, or even a few fancier evening gowns. Fairy Tale Charms This range of charms also features some really special fairy tale pieces with characters straight out of the picture books. These are perfect first charms for younger girls who might only have one or two spacers of their bracelet, but with the detail and craftsmanship I think they make a great addition to any bracelet with more feminine themes. The ones that really caught my eyes from these new charms are the castle and nightingale charms which have that delicacy and intricate details that make me fall in love with charms all over again. Personal Favourites – The Cutest Charms Yet! I’ve got a real weakness for cute, furry little creatures on my bracelet and this spring collection has given me a whole new set of silver charms to fawn over and save up for. The Easter bunny will definitely be the first purchase out of the new collection, but I’m having trouble deciding on the Scottish dog and smooth elephant. What do you think? All images taken from http://www.pandora.net/en-au/

Pandora Bracelets And Charm Bracelets: Choosing Your Bracelet When people think of European style charm bracelets or just any charm bracelet in general they are usually thinking about the charms on the bracelets first and foremost. However the little considered bracelet itself can lend a lot to the overall look and feel of your charm bracelet. Pandora bracelets are just the same, the variety of material that includes all kinds of coloured leathers instead of the usual gold and silver bracelets. There are many things to think about as the bracelet material defines your charms and the overall look and style of your bracelet. Here are a few factors to help guide you in choosing the bracelet that’s right for you.

Material Of Your Bracelet

For charm bracelets Pandora has a whole range of materials to choose from: leather, silver, textiles and gold and the principle materials that I’ve seen make up a Pandora bracelet. Usually the leather and textile versions will have a silver or gold clasp to add in a bit of shine if you’ve only starting out with a few charms. The most obvious factor is budget: leather and textile are obviously going to be much less pricey than any of the precious metals, though silver is much more reasonable that the gold bracelets and some are only $20-30 more than the simple leather bracelet materials. There are also yellow-gold and silver-grey leather bracelet colours that will mimic the precious metals very well, though without the natural brilliant shine of the metals. The other thing you might want to keep in mind is you charms. If you have a theme in mind or a set of charms you want to work towards then think about how your bracelet acts underneath them and whether it will draw the eye to the charms. At times a darker bracelet like silver with and oxidised silver or black woven leather actually complements a set of charms better than more expensive gold and other varieties. Using the various coloured materials can also help certain charms standout, such as a bright green to go with a St. Patricks day charm or pink on a Valentines theme. It is known that choosing neutral colours allows for more space for eyes to get drawn to you charms, which are usually the centrepiece of the European charm bracelet.

Layers And Design Of The Bracelet

Though the gold and silver bracelet have little variations, the leather and textile bracelet ranges have weaves, double layers and fashioned from multi strands of material. Leather is already a bit more casual a material for a charm bracelet and variations with of bunched individual strands and doubled layers of material would go better with more low key everyday outfits than some more of the classier dresses that might work with precious metals a bit better.

Cleaning And Care

Not so much as a big issue that should dictate your choice in charm bracelet as it is a piece of advice, but different bracelet materials will require different levels of cleaning and different cleaning methods. Silver and especially gold don’t require as much maintenance as leather might as it doesn’t absorb the oils of your skin and won’t fray or crack, though you’ll want to go over it with polish and rag to clean off dirt and to keep the same brilliant shine as it was when new. The leathers are a bit more temperamental in need of soaps and disinfectant to keep out bacteria and you should be more careful when wearing it every day to not rip of start any fraying along the material. Hope this helps and Till next time take care!

Cleaning And Caring For Your Charms: What You Need To Know

As a proud Pandora charm bracelet owner I take great care in choosing the charms that go on my bracelet every day and get to show them to quite a few people whose eye it catches. How embarrassing it would be to have bits of dirt, skin cream and makeup on my charm! Having owned Pandora bracelets for quite a while I’ve devised a fairly good casual maintenance plan to go along with the twice-yearly cleaning as recommended by Pandora themselves here. There are some serious do’s and don’ts that I’ve come to learn over the years, and sometimes the hard way, so even though I might not be the foremost authority on precious metal cleansing I’ve got a few tips that might make your life easier and even save the lives of your precious charms.

Prevention Over Cure

Well the best way to have a clean bracelet is quite obvious: don’t get it dirty! If you’re going to encounter some mud, dirt or grime that put that bracelet away somewhere safe. It might seem totally obvious, but the odd scrape against our charms can cause damage that’s totally irreparable.

The over thing is to store you bracelet in an appropriate the place. Gold generally keeps much better than silver as it’s not as reactive a metal, so most people are concerned with silver tarnishing. Tarnishing happens when silver reacts with various chemicals and oxygen in the air. The metal will look different from its colour as the outmost layer of jewellery undergoes a chemical reaction. While this process might help to protect the metal below the outer layer you want to let the silvers shine so it’s best to watch out and clean away any tarnish that appears.

Cleaning Silver Tarnish

First of all check that the tarnish on your silver isn’t there on purpose! Pandora has many silver charms where the silver is oxidised to create a contrast between the light and dark tones. Pandora uses processes to oxidise their silver charms very precisely, but even your cloths can ruin the desired effect of the darker layer. To clean you can shop around for any kind of paste or solution that you can rub into the tarnish to take it off or a special silver polishing cloth which will have some solution inside to help take off the darkness. Follow the instructions of the cleaner, but generally when cleaning charms and bracelets you’ll want to give a simple rub down in hot water and a soft cloth to remove dirt and oils.

Storing Your Bracelet

As part of care, storing your bracelet is very important. Basically, to avoid tarnishing your bracelet and charm you’ll want a space that it free of air flow. Pandora does have special soft cloth bags to store your charms in (the box you get with the bracelet isn’t actually the best for charm and bracelet storage). Even something as simple as a zip lock plastic baggy can keep out air is better for your charms than a padded and fancy box, but of course you can keep your plastic bag of charms in there if you want to look a little stylish!

Charm Of The Month: Duotones

Happy new year to all of you and hope you had amazing time around the countdown. We all have resolutions of course, and mine was to do monthly reviews of charms, and just my favourites! This month I’m going to look at duotone charms that make up a big part of Pandora’s charm collection. The word duotone is usually used in the context of photography, a technique where the photo’s colours are split between differing shades of only two colours. The result is a picture with high contrasts and can be used to highlight a certain colour in a shot. Duotone jewellery and charms are no different in what they use the duotone effect is used for. The two tones in question here are silver and gold and the aim is usually to add a bit of gold to a silver piece to highlight certain parts of the charm. There are some really fantastic charms out there that use gold to add a special touch to a classic design. It seems one of the favourite things to highlight is a heart as seen below! You can’t blame the designers though, the effect really makes the heart stand out and glow in a cute way.

And if hearts aren’t your style then there are some really intricate charms that use the duotone effect to great effect in some really intricate styles. A lot of the flower and rose duotones are make a great mix of gold and silver with the rose petals in the shining gold to really make it pop against the silvery background. Or the dove charm with gold doves flying off, leaving their imprints in the silver metal.

Styling Tips For Duotone Charms

Looking at the wide range of duotone charms I think that a whole bracelet theme can be made out of these charms. A silver bracelet with lots of duotone charms using pure silver spacers will provide a great canvas for the intricate bits of gold to shine through the bracelet. Maybe throwing in a few gold charms will create a nice alternating effect between silver and gold. Whatever you do, I think it’s best to keep the theme nice and simple to let the gold tones pop as much as they can and draw attention to them. *All images taken from Pandora Australia.