For today’s post I will be talking about the latest news on Pandora’s open bangle and the pricing for the SMSM promo, and unfortunately it’s all bad news. Let’s start with the open bangle.
I received a call from my store to let me know that they did indeed receive the new open bangle but that they were not allowed to sell them as they were told they needed to return them ASAP. I tried to convince them to let me buy one but they wouldn’t budge 😅 . Turns out they needed to return them as there was a production issue so I asked to at least see them and they did allow me to do so. I got excited to at least be able to hold one and inspect them, unfortunately I wasn’t able to take any pictures or review it as they were very busy so I will try to describe it to the best of my capabilities.
Soooo the bangle was oval shaped, there were some rumors of it being round but it was oval, however it’s longer than the Trollbeads bangle. I think it was more similar to the Persona bangle than the Trollbeads bangle, just not as long. The stoppers are much smaller than I thought, and I didn’t feel like they would securely hold the charms in place. The stoppers are smaller than Trollbeads stoppers with a thin silicone lining to keep them in place.
The end caps are much different than what I had expected, I thought they screwed on but it I was completely wrong, one end cap is soldered on, while the other one has a weird mechanism where you push it in then twist to loosen it. I think it’s called a pop style clasp. It wasn’t a very good design. I struggled to remove the end cap, once I did, the end of the bangle had a type of hook on it and I couldn’t understand how pushing in the end cap would loosen it but it did. I’m sure it’s not the first of it’s kind, actually now that I think about it, the mechanism is similar to the Pandora Luminous Drops front-back earrings or the reversible Pave Drop Earrings.
The bangle seemed a bit thinner than the regular basic Pandora bangle too. After handling it for a few minutes I was told the reason they were already being recalled was the part (the hooked part) of the bangle was not properly soldered onto the rest of the bangle so it made the bracelet not secure meaning the end cap would fall off with the hooked part inside of it. As I was looking at the rest of the clear plastic bags that held the bangles I did notice some of them had bits of metal floating about. It was a very big disappointment to me as I was really looking forward to these bangles. The girls could not tell me if this was the last we would see of the bangles or if they will be re-released after the problem has been fixed. When Pandora had the problem with the small floating lockets opening up spontaneously I thought we would never see them again but they were re-released as well so lets cross our fingers that they fix the problem with this as well.
Onto the second bit of bad news, I have confirmed that the price points for the Spend More Save More event have been slightly changed, it’s not as big as a discount as it was last year. To compare, the last time the promo was around it was:
-If you spend $150 you will save $50 (approximately 33% off)
-If you spend $350 you will save $125 (approximately 36% off)
-And if you spend $550 you will save $225 (approximately 41% off)
This month the prices are:
-If you spend $125 you will save $25 (20% off)
-If you spend $300 you will save $75 (25% off)
-And if you spend $500 you will save $150 (30% off)
To be fair, if you were to compare the first and second tiers of the promo you would actually be spending the same amount, ($150 – $50 = $100 vs $125 – $25 = $100 for example). It’s the last tier that really has been changed and the savings aren’t what they were last year. Last year I spent the $550 giving me almost 41% off, this year I will not be spending $500 but will most likely be doing the second tier instead.
I wish I were delivering better news. What do you all think of this? Are you hoping the open bangle somehow makes it to market? Will you be participating in the SMSM promo later this month?
All images with my watermark belong to me, all other images belong to Pandora.
That’s pretty bad, specially with the recent price increase… not sure I’ll get anything!
I probably still will, just not at the higher price point they would’ve liked me to spend.
They seem to make pretty *stupid* decisions lately, throwing jewelry out there in a mad rush, not thinking things through properly, then recalling them right away… It happens in almost every release now eh? Maybe i just don’t understand the essence of this business that much, idk.. but it looks like throwing a lot of money away. And then they need to adjust prices to still make a profit. 🤔
I hear ya! They need better quality control, if I were a store manager or even the CEO, I would be embarrassed that this keeps happening! I’m still pouting though, they should’ve still sold me one.
I’m very disappointed by this and Pandora did not really think it through the sales for the last quarter in store was much less than desirable and coming up with an offer less than prior year is not going to improve those sales. I strongly believe they can prepare for the same decrease in sales this quarter as well. This may be my opportunity to tone down my pandora purchase.
I know what you mean. I was getting ready to get my shopping list done but now I’m like meh. It’s a shame, I agree with you, they should’ve kept it the same.
Thanks for the info on the open bangle. Always appreciate any tidbits you share.
Thanks for the comment! That’s why I’m here for!
I also sort of want to try and go with the second tier of pricing – I have a few extravagant silver gold charms and earrings I would like. Also maybe a ring – I haven’t calculated it out ahead of time yet LOL, but I have some things I would like to wear that I’ve been oogling over. I was at the lowest tier last time, and got a few charms that I had been wanting that seemed a bit older. I plan to do similar this time. I’m not really mad about the bangle – like I said before, at least they are trying to come up with ideas… even if the execution isn’t so smooth. At least they didn’t have a customer recall this time. I still hope they figure it out though, cause I would love to have a bangle like that (with maybe improved stoppers…) to hold some of my charms that don’t usually sit so well on my other bracelets (cat face, teddy bear – too top heavy they always end up upside down and turned around… ).
Yes I think the second tier is the best savings. I wonder if I could do two second tiers? 🤷🏻♀️I have a lot of rings and necklaces on my wish list as well, but charms come first LOL!
I am a bit upset about the bangle, like you, I have several mini sets that would look better sitting in top of my wrist instead of at the bottom. I really do hope they fix he issue and re-release.
Very interesting about the bangles! I’m so glad you got to check one out and thanks for the report!
Thanks! I really wish they could’ve sold me one though LOL!
I actually purchased the plain bangle and am returning it today. It’s poor quality and the ends will fall off even without the hook issue, due to the weird lock they used. The stoppers are terrible. Pandora should be ashamed!!!
Wow! Glad to know I wasn’t way off on my observations. I noticed the weight of the bangle was pretty light as well. It wasn’t like I was handling a toy bracelet.
I also agree with you about the sale structure. A lot of customers are going to be unhappy…
Yeah, I understand is a business but I feel like they are getting greedy.
For those of us in Canada – is the SMSM event also happening in Canada or just in the USA?
As far as I know Canada has been excluded, however this doesn’t mean that maybe Pandora will change its mind last minute, sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. Crossing fingers for you!