Today I’ll finally be doing a Pandora review, I feel like it’s been forever since I’ve done one, and it’s probably because I haven’t really loved anything that has come out. I can’t remember the last time I fell in love with an entire collection or at least more than half of one. Unfortunately the Spring and Summer line is no exception, I like a few pieces here and there but there is far too much pink and other pastels for my taste; however this is where Essence comes in to save the day! Thank goodness for Essence!!

First Impression:

I had my first impression of this particular collection as it was released everywhere else but here in North America LOL. I remember feeling upset as everyone else was able to purchase this collection but us here in the USA and Canada and I remembered thinking I need to get my hands on the Caring and Friendship charms and I needed to get in touch with an Australian friend ASAP! As you can see right off the bat my favorites were the Caring and Friendship obviously and I liked all of the sterling silver charms. I didn’t much care for the pearl Dignity, that was of course until I got to see the Dignity charms in real life.

Review:

I would first like to start off with the new Essence safety chain. It has a nice feel to it, heavy and sturdy, however the charm part of this safety chain is sturdy I can’t say the same for the chain part of this piece. It’s very delicate in my opinion, but then again most safety chains are delicate seeming but still hold up to every day wear and tear and I don’t think this will be an exception. Before examining it I was wondering how they would get the silicone liners inside to suddenly stop before falling off the bracelet:

Somehow whenever I reached this point and tried to slide the safety chain off, I met with resistance. If I kept pushing the safety chain would come off easily enough, however I was intrigued on how Pandora figured out a way to not make the safety chain just come right off. It’s at this exact point where I show in the photo where I felt resistance.

I’m very glad that Pandora came up with a safety chain for Essence, I know fans have been asking for one for awhile, especially when Essence first came out and the clasp did not seem as sturdy as the classic Moments bracelet does. This item is sterling silver and retails for $50.

Now we come to the new Essence bangle, I have to say I like it a lot but I don’t think I will buy it.

It’s super dainty and light, and although very well made, I fear I will bend it or misshape with everyday use. I try to be very careful with my jewelry but experience tells me I will most likely bend it somehow and then I will feel horrible! I took additional photos of how the bangle is constructed:

In the picture below if you are able to zoom in at all you can see how the clasp kind of curves in so that when you insert the other side of the bangle, the clasp completely grasps it making it a very secure lock.

So in the above photograph you can see how there’s like a “C” shape, there is where the point of the bangle goes into, I tried my best to show how it works in photographs but didn’t do the best job, the following picture is blurry.

If you were wondering whether the safety chain can be used on the bangle I have seen the Moments bangles with the Moments safety chains and although I don’t suggest using a bangle with a safety chain I’m sure it’s not impossible to wear them together. The new Essence bangle is made out of sterling silver and retails for $60.

And now for the fun part, actually checking out each new Essence charm from the Spring launch, we start with the Dignity bead:

At first, based on the online images I was not very impressed but then I was wowed when I saw this charm in real life. When I was younger, I didn’t much care for pearls, now I do like them, I prefer darker pearls but I can still appreciate the beauty of white pearls. Plus it’s so nice to see an actual real gemstone from Pandora even if it is a cultured pearl. Also please make a note, since it is an actual gemstone be aware that there will be variations on each charm as no two will be alike:

Aren’t they beautiful! Just check out the fifth bead from the top, it’s actually pink! This is what I miss the most from Pandora using actual gemstones, the variety we used to get when purchasing different beads. What to you think about the new Dignity charm? Here it is with it’s current gold counterpart:

This charm is of course made out of cultured freshwater pearl with a sterling silver core, it retails for $60.

Next we have the new Caring bead which I like a lot and is on my wish list. I like abstract type designs and this is no exception. I like that it’s not covered in cubic zirconias and that you can see some silver detailing on it. For some reason it reminds me of the Moments galaxy bead.

I like that the design is original and not a reproduction of a Moments charm, here it is with it’s pave counterpart:

The Caring charm is sterling silver with cubic zirconia detailing, it will retail at $55. Next we come to yet another Love charm:

Now if you all know me by now, you’ll know that I actually like hearts a lot, however I’m not in love with this bead. I like that the design is original and that there are no cubic zirconias to be seen, but for so me reason it just doesn’t call to me. I also wish Pandora would focus more on other core values as I don’t think we need three Love beads. It is a cute charm but just not for me. This charm is sterling silver and retails at $35 which means it’s the most affordable charm in this collection, here it is with it’s other counterparts.

Now we come to the new Loyalty bead. I like it well enough although it reminds me too much of the original Happiness bead when Essence first came out. The swirls on this bead remind me of the ocean and if I buy it, it will be for that reason as I love the beach.

I also like the milgrain which is strange for me as I usually don’t like milgrain on anything. For those of you who don’t know what milgrain is, it’s the beading accent that you can see around the open parts of the charm. It gives the bead a nice antique, vintage feel which is probably another reason why I like it. This charm retails at $65 and is sterling silver. Here it is shown with its counterpart:

Next we have the new Friendship bead, and I have to apologize in advance as I completely forgot to take additional pictures with the older counterpart and this newer bead. There is an all sterling silver counterpart that I actually like a lot because of the knotted aspect of it, AND my LS did not receive the other opalescent pink crystal Friendship charm either! So I was only able to photograph this nice blue bead however I noticed that as I took pictures depending on the lighting, this bead looked lighter then darker:

As you can see it looks darker, however it’s the exact bead! Makes me wish I could take this bead out in the sunlight to see what it looks like or how it will change color between different shades of blue! I would also love to see this bead next to the Spirituality bead that we have yet to see in the North American region. If you read my last post you will see that the new Spirituality bead is a darker shade of blue. This bead is made out of sterling silver and sky blue crystal and will retail at $50.

Next we come upon the new Happiness charm, which I have to say I LOVE! I think if you add facets to anything it makes it ten times better. For example with some Trollbeads, there are some charms that I just don’t care for smooth but once they are faceted I must have them, for example I do not like the milky quartz or chalcedony but I own both of them in the faceted versions.

I especially this bead a lot because it looks like there’s an inner fire inside, it looks like it’s glowing. I couldn’t get a good photograph of it because no matter how I turned it or angled it, it looked very bright. This charm is made out of simulated ruby and sterling silver and retails at $50. Here it is with its silver counterpart:

And finally we come to the last charm of the collection (for now, as I will try to update this with the new pink Friendship charm as soon as I can) the new Compassion charm. I’m glad they finally replaced the older Compassion charm, some beads have triples of a bead and no replacement of the older ones like this one or Energy. I like this bead a lot, albeit it is covered in cubic zirconias but I like the lattice effect.

Actually I should take my previous comment back about this bead being covered in cubic zirconias, it’s actually not, upon closer inspection you can see the beading milgrain detail again which I mistook for the pave setting. This pattern reminds me of Moorish decor such as wall tiles or windows, makes me like it even more! This charm is sterling silver with some cubic zirconia details, and it retails at $50.

In Conclusion:

I may not have loved much of the new Spring collection from Pandora as a whole, but I do enjoy their Essence release a lot! There are a lot of beads that I liked more than I thought I would like the Happiness, the Loyalty, the blue Friendship and the Compassion charms. SMH I think I liked all of the beads except the Love charm, I am hopeless! I hope you’ve enjoyed this review and showcase of live images of most of the new Essence line, it’s been awhile since I’ve done a good old fashioned, long winded Pandora review! What do you think of the new Spring line? Are there any must haves for you?

 

All images with my watermark belong to me, all others belong to their respective owners such as Pandora.