Pandora #2

I'm going to diverge a bit from my list of Pandora charms that I have. There are a couple of extremely rare Pandora charms I love, but anytime I find them, they exceed $500, sometimes even over $1,000 and I definitely do not have the money for that. I'd love to get my hands on each of them! 

Indsamling Gold Feather charm

1) Indsamling Gold Feather Charm - This is a charity charm that Denmark companies and Pandora released to benefit children in Africa. Released in early 2012, this charm fetches a pretty penny as it was only released in Denmark. Perlen was willing to ship out of the country, but it was a limited edition charm. It would be a wonderful addition to my gold charms bracelet! 

2) Royal True Love Charm - Released in 2008 to commemorate the wedding of Prince Joachim of Denmark to Marie Cavalier. This charm has two enamel red hearts with gold crowns, and on the back is their wedding date, 24/5 2008. There is a general version of this charm that is widely available, but it doesn't have the engraved wedding date. 

Royal True Love charm

Royal Denmark Cathedral Charm

3) Royal Denmark Cathedral Charm - Another charm that celebrates a royal wedding, between Prince Frederik of Denmark and Mary Donaldson. The charm is the shape of a church, and has a gold crown on the bottom and their wedding date, 14/5 2004. This charm is extremely rare, as only 1,000 were made. 

Pandora Cruise Charm 2013

4) Any of the Pandora Cruise Charm - One of my vows is to attend the Pandora cruise getaway, but until then, I have to simply covet the exclusive charms. Pandora makes as many charms as there are guests, so that could be less than 200! 

There are other charms I want, like the Staff Charm, but these are the top ones. 

Images credited to Charms Addict.

Pandora #1

I have A LOT of Pandora charms. It's an obsession, bordering on unhealthy. I've been buying the more rare and hard-to-find charms, which yanks more money out of my pockets. 

Anyway, I'm going to list my favorite charms, from first to last. I have a lot, so bear with me. 

The Christ Charm

1) The Christ Charm - A dainty little golden heart - made exclusively for Christ Jeweler's in Germany, and only 1,000 were made. I scooped this charm up on eBay for $250, and whenever one does become available on eBay, it goes for over $400. I got a deal on this one. 

2) The Star Dangle Charm - A little gold star that dangles. It's retired now, but is still kind of easy to find. I was expecting the star to be bigger, but I'm glad it's not. 

3) The "P" Charm - A charm in a global shape that has lots of P's on it, some in gold. My name starts with a P, so...you get the picture. 

Black Friday 2013 - Let it Snow

4) Let it Snow Charm - The 2013 Black Friday charm. I bought this one on Black Friday, and stocks were depleted at my Pandora concept store quickly. It's sparkly, the only sparkly charm I have from Pandora. The charm has sparkly snowflakes on it, and '2013' is engraved. It's very pretty. 

Black Friday 2011 - Midnight Hearts

5) Midnight Heart Charm - The 2011 Black Friday charm. I bought this one on eBay. It has three black enamel hearts and one gold heart with 2011 on it. 

6) The Bear Charm - This one was a Mother's Day 2013 charm, I think. It's still widely available, but I think it's just adorable. It's a silver bear that carries a gold heart. 

7) Star Charm - This is the most expensive non-retired charm I've bought, for $150. I got it for the free bracelet promo a couple of months ago. It doesn't have as much gold as I expected for such an expensive charm, but it's a nice charm. 

8) I Love to Travel Charm - This is an exclusive charm that can only be bought on certain airlines. I got mine on eBay though. It's a suitcase, with one side being I Love to Travel (Love is a red heart on the suitcase) and on the back is the continents. It's the perfect charm for my travel bracelet. 

9) Vintage Heart - This Mother's Day 2014 charm is really nice. It's an openworks heart with a smaller gold heart inside. 

10) Tree of Life Charm - A circular charm with silver and gold leaves on it. I fell in love with it and had to get it. 

Charms Galore!

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!