Shots of the complete Pandora Essence range have been published in various British women’s magazines (to my knowledge, at least Elle UK and Glamour UK are carrying previews) – I’ve been able to scan in the collection from one of them.
All 24 charms are pictured, along with their special name. Each charm represents one of these ‘inner qualities’ that Pandora mentioned in their press release.
The new bracelet features a much thinner silver chain, and has the new spherical Pandora clasp instead of the traditional barrel clasp. All the charms are lined inside with silicone, allowing you to fix the charms in place on the chain. Consequently, the traditional Pandora threading system won’t apply to this bracelet.
Pandora has stressed that this bracelet is not compatible with the existing Pandora charm range. The Essence charms will not fit the classic Pandora bracelet, and the new Essence bracelet is not designed to be worn with classic charms, either.
Pricing
The UK pricing has also been revealed in these magazine previews. The bracelet will be available for £49, and the charms for £22.50.
This is certainly better than rumour had us believe – while the bracelet is only marginally cheaper than the traditional Pandora charm bracelet, the charms are all considerably cheaper than most classic charms.
My Comment
This is certainly a cheaper alternative to the regular bracelet, and I feel like the look of the charms perhaps reflect that. This is almost a Pandora Lite version of the traditional bracelet. Consequently, I can understand why some people have suggested that it is aimed at the younger and more fashion conscious. The move away from the more ‘cute’ animal and love themed beads also would reflect an emphasis on the bracelet being more of a fashion piece.
There are a few beads here that I like – particularly ‘Passion’ and ‘Freedom’. Of course, I’d like to see more beads – Pandora is about customisation, after all, and there are limited combinations to be made with the new beads from Pandora Essence, especially when compared to the hundreds of regular Pandora charms.
Again, I’m not so sure that it’s different enough from Pandora’s regular charm range. I might, of course, see these beads in person and fall in love (always a dangerous possibility!), but, on paper, it doesn’t seem revolutionary.
I’m also not so sure about the marketing for this range, as I’ve previously said. I don’t think I’d ever really invest in the values that these beads are supposed to represent. However, that is of course entirely personal to me and others may feel otherwise. I just find it all a bit too spiritual for what is essentially nice jewellery.
All in all, I’m still on the fence with this one. I’ll be waiting to see this concept in person. How about you? Are you lusting after this new range from Pandora?