Hi everyone! I'm back! I've been so busy in the last couple of months - college and scholarship applications, AP classes, extracurriculars, etc - but today I have an off day from school so I thought I'd update!
For the past six-seven months I've been obsessed with charm bracelets. Yes, OBSESSED. I swear, I've spent a few hundred dollars on charms - it's insane. I need to share with the world my love for charm bracelets.
Charm bracelets are unique from any other kind of jewelry. You decide what you want your charm bracelet to represent. You make your charm bracelet symbolize you and your experiences. Plus, a bonus is that they're delicate and pretty.
Here are the charm bracelet/companies that I've shopped with (since I can't afford Tiffany & Co or Cartier charm bracelets):
- PANDORA - Pandora is my top charm bracelet company. I have at least 15 charms from there and I can't stop myself from buying more! They're pretty, colorful (Murano beads are the colorful ones) and symbolize everything from family to hobbies to special occasions. Some of my favorite collections are the travel collection and the fairy tale collection. Enchanted! I got my first bracelet for my birthday last summer and I visit my local Pandora retailer at least once a month - I've been spending all my accumulated birthday/Christmas money from my family! I have a problem and I've been forcing myself to stay away from the mall whenever possible.
- Swarovski - Sparkles and shine = my favorite! Swarovski specializes in all that glitters. I have four charms from there: the pink seahorse charm (my favorite), a Hello Kitty charm, a lucky elephant charm and a heart and key charm. I have a star necklace and a L-O-V-E Serenade hot pink charm bracelet too. However, my only problem with Swarovski is that they don't really change their charm collection that often. Like once a year, maybe. They don't offer seasonal collections. So I'm kind of limited in what I buy because I usually only like a few charms per collection and there's only one a year so I don't buy from them often. Their charms get old because they're available year-round.
- Fossil - My friend got me into the Fossil charm collection a few months ago. I only have two charms (I prefer Pandora, although Fossil is a close second) - the pencils one for my writing passion and the new colorful heart (it's like a wheel of love). The charms are never above $40, which is great, and they range from super-sparkly to regular sterling silver. They are mostly colorful and offer both rose-gold, gold and silver charms. Last fall, Fossil offered these colorful rubber bracelets that you could put one charm at a time on. They were so fun! I have a dark blue one and if they were still selling them I would've bought either a pink or a green one.
- James Avery - Very unknown brand outside of a few states in the U.S. (including my own) - their pieces are rather blah in my opinion. They're alright, but nothing spectacular or eye-catching. What's worse is that you have to have them soldered onto the charm bracelet, which is something I don't like. I like to be able to take my charms on and off of my bracelet and exchange them with other charms for a bit of variety. I have the Texas heart charm as that's where I'm from but I wear it on a necklace. I know it sounds bad, but nobody knows who James Avery is really. Pandora, however, is worldwide, with millions of customers. I have friends in Spain who adore Pandora and really want a charm bracelet from there, but they're a bit too expensive what with the financial crisis and all.
In my opinion, brand is important, no matter what anyone says. People like to sport around big-name designers even if the pieces are hideous. I am going to try to hold off until March to buy the exclusive Pandora club charm (waiting for my voucher, Pandora, wink, wink) but we'll see how that works out.
Can you believe that at this time last year I couldn't stand wearing jewelry? Now my wrists feel empty if I'm not wearing at least one bracelet on each one. My neck feels exposed without a pendant on.
Post comments about your jewelry and what you love about it! I want to hear your feedback on brands and styles!
