Now that all Pandora’s offerings for 2013 have launched, I thought it would be a good time to look back over the highlights of this year’s releases. This is part one of three, focusing on the earlier Spring releases of 2013.
This has been, in my opinion, an excellent year for Pandora. We’ve seen more releases than ever – I’ve counted seven for this year! There’s been the Zodiac, Valentine’s, Spring, Mother’s Day, Summer, Autumn and Winter collections. More than that, if you count the splitting of the Summer release into two! In any case, we’ve been fed on a constant drip, and it’s an odd feeling now to not already be anticipating a new release.
In this first part, I’ll be looking at the first third or so of the year, encompassing Valentine’s to Mother’s Day collections. Without further ado, here are the first of the pieces that I loved most from this year!
Cherry Blossom collection
The Cherry Blossom collection debuted with the Spring 2013 collection, to much acclaim. The delicate pinks encapsulated the prettiness of spring, and were a instant hit with collectors and reviewers. I myself am not a particular fan of enamel, but these pieces captivated me from the beginning. The Moments collection featured the Cherry Blossom murano, the Cherry Blossom pavé light charm, the Cherry Blossom pendant and the Cherry Blossom clip.
I have purchased a couple of pieces from this collection myself:
The Cherry Blossom pendant is perfect for your bracelet as well as your necklace, and looks particularly pretty as a centre piece.
The Cherry Blossom murano is a particularly stunning piece, and represents the advancement in Pandora’s glass work. To really appreciate this charm, I think you need to look at it sideways on.
Here, you can see the depth and the sophistication of the glass work. The red centre of the flower extends down through the glass to the core of the bead, while the painted pink petals appear almost 3D. The silver core on the murano is smaller than those of traditional Pandora muranos, allowing you to appreciate the effects in the glass.
I’d have bought myself the clip as well, except that I had no real place for it to go in my collection. :(
Love Connection safety chain
It’s always nice to see Pandora bring out a new safety chain design. The current selection is pretty, but nowhere near varied enough! Consequently, for me, a highlight of the year was seeing the Love Connection safety chain debut.
This safety chain is designed slightly differently to previous safety chains – the tops of it were more rounded and thinner than previous designs. While this does mean that the safety chain itself has less silver in it, it also means a lower price point for us in the UK – £35 instead of £40.
The safety chain provided a more affordable version of the extremely popular two tone hearts safety chain, and has been very popular with collectors. I’d love to see another safety chain for 2014 – we’ll have to wait and see!
Fairy Tale collection
The collection represented the perfect mixture of cute (i.e. the Frog Prince and Mouse in the Cup) and classic (the Song Bird), making it a beautiful collection that suited a variety of tastes. The Fairy Tale collection is a lovely reminder of childhood and those dreams you had when you were younger; they have a romantic, magical feel to them that matches the spirit of a charm bracelet exactly. The touches of gold in the charms also give them that extra special touch.
This collection also saw the rise of the ‘fairy tale bracelet’ – I have one myself, still in the making. These charms go beautifully with existing charms such as the Pandora Carriage or Fairy pendant charm. I plan eventually to purchase all of the Spring 2013 Fairy Tale charms; I still have the Castle and the Mouse in the Cup to get!
The Frog Prince also has adorable little flowers running along his back. As you can see, the bottom two petals aren’t oxidised on my charm – I quite like this little flaw, as it makes him a little more distinctive. ;)
The Song Bird is another stunning charm, and possibly my favourite of this collection. The oxidised detailing on the cage is beautiful, and the little heart tag on the top of the cage is a really sweet touch.
It was also lovely to see a book charm for all the avid readers out there (including myself!). I have such vivid memories of being read fairy tales as a child, and of seeing beautiful books like this one at the beginning of my favourite Disney films!
What were your highlights for Spring 2013? Did I miss anything out? Let me know – I’m always happy to hear from you!
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Ellie :D
I’m visiting some of your older posts with reviews of charms that I am planning to get :P I didn’t even know you’d started your blog this long ago! My next planned purchases will be the Fairytale charms :D They seem to be catching my eye a lot lately, and even more so with reading your reviews!! Thank you so much for your blog, I’d be so lost without it! <3
Suzy
Hi Suzy! Aha, it has been a while now – although it still felt very new for a long time, up until late last year I guess. A lot of these older posts are quite different to the formats I do now :)
I’m glad you enjoy the blog though, thank you for support! <3 I always look forward to your comments! And you should definitely get the fairy-tale charms - I have never been so excited for a new collection!