Today marks the start of the Chinese New Year and so, to celebrate, I thought I’d review the rather adorable Chinese Doll charm! This is one of two charms that Pandora have released to celebrate CNY 2015, and it features a beautiful red enamel Chinese-inspired design.
This charm is only currently available in Asian markets (and Australia) to celebrate the Chinese New Year. For the rest of the world, this charm will be out with the Pandora Spring 2015 collection on the 12th of March. ♥
The charm
The most striking thing for me about the Chinese Doll is her sweet, happy little face – it has a lovely stylised look to it, which works much better than Pandora’s attempts at more realistic miniature faces. ^^ The red enamel is nice and bright, and contrasts nicely with the shiny black enamel that’s used for her hair. Red is (I believe) a lucky colour in China and so I think this would make a great good luck charm too.
One of my favourite aspects of this charm are the cute little details – her ears and feet stick out rather adorably.
The Chinese Doll completes a set of Asian-inspired set of doll charms; the existing Pandora Korean and Japanese Doll pendants were released with the Autumn 2014 collection. However I love how each doll has a very distinct style and character. While the Japanese Doll (pictured below) is quite neat and elegant in its design, the Chinese Doll is broader and simpler, offering a cheerful, sunny look instead. The Japanese Doll has a rather demure expression, while the Chinese Doll’s face is adorned with an endearing smile. It’s perfect for representing the New Year as a celebration.
Styling
Pandora for their Chinese New Year campaign images have used a rather opulent red and gold colour scheme.
Consequently, I have decided to go with the same for my CNY-inspired bracelet design! Here I’ve used the two-tone bracelet and safety chain, with the gorgeous Braided Heart two-tone clips to add that little hint of gold. I’ve then added a couple of pearl pendants to add to the elegance of the design.
I have actually picked up quite a few of the Chinese-inspired charms over the last couple of years. I don’t have the Ram (even though it is my zodiac!) though, so I’ve focused on a more general Chinese theme: I’ve included the Waving Cat, the 2014 Chinese Lantern and silver Ingot, and the silver 2012 Hong Bao charms. :D However you’ll have to imagine that the Ingot at the centre of this design is gold – that would be perfect! ^^
Of course, this charm’s appeal isn’t limited to Asian-inspired bracelets. If you read my review of the Together Forever pendant, you will have seen this leather design before – the Doll looks adorable with the pretty Pink Hearts murano and leather bracelet.
To finish off, this is how I am using the Doll permanently within my collection. The design is a little asymmetrical (something that I usually avoid) but it does look very pretty on the wrist!
Conclusion
This is probably my favourite design that Pandora have created for the Chinese New Year to date. Enamel detailing can be a little controversial, but I love its usage here. It’s probably not the most versatile of colours either, but it does encapsulate that happy sense of celebration perfectly. <3
Many people have mentioned how they would like a whole series of dolls to represent different countries and cultures. I absolutely love this idea, and I would love to see some more of these Dolls appear in the future!
Have you managed to acquire this charm, or is it on your wish list? Have you created any bracelet designs to celebrate the New Year?
I am glad to see that the Chinese doll is larger than the Japanese doll. Previously, i went to the Pandora store to purchase the Japanese and Korean dolls but was put off by how tiny there were. I’m still undecided about whether I want to get the Chinese doll because she’s a dangle but she is so super cute and resembles my sister when she was a child. I’ll wait till I’m in oz – if they conversion is good, I will get all three dolls … and complain that they are all dangles later :)
Yes, I really love the idea of dolls representing countries. Hopefully, they will remake the Russian doll again in future so its in the same style as these 3 dolls.
BTW, Happy New Years!
Yes, it’s always funny when you’ve got used to seeing the high-res pre-release images and the zoomed-up live shots, and then you realise how tiny these charms are in person, haha. I actually really like how compact the design of the Japanese Doll is, she’s very sweet. :D I never liked dangles when I first started out with Pandora but now I have them on most of my bracelets, I like how they contribute to the symmetry and spacing of a design. ^^ The Chinese Doll is really so cute (as are the rest of the set haha :P) and the good thing about it is that it doesn’t have any sharp edges so it doesn’t catch on anything. :)
Ah yes, the Russian doll would be a great one to do! Someone mentioned that the new Guard my Heart dangle for Spring 2015 is in a way a kind of British doll, and I think that works really nicely. ^^
Happy new year to you too! :D
I have the zodiac ox dangle. As much as I don’t care for dangles, a single dangle on a leather bracelet looks nice. I like the idea of a series of dolls.
I have the pig and dog zodiac dangles, but not the ram which is my actual zodiac haha. Dolls would be adorable, much nicer than the upcoming flag series – it’s quite fun to imagine what they could be!
I love all the doll charms and would love more for different countries, I love how you design all your bracelets.
completely agree :D I’d love a Spanish one and another Russian one, as Judie suggested. Thank you, I’m glad you liked them ^^
Thank you for doing this review. I am really keen to get the Japanese and Korean dolls but wasn’t sure how I would wear them. I also have the poppy murano but haven’t worn it yet. So thanks to your styling, I now know that I can put them all together on one bracelet. I would love to get the Chinese doll but I think three dolls on one bracelet might be too much.
Glad you enjoyed it, and that it’s helped you decide how to wear your charms! :D I don’t think the three dolls would be too much on one bracelet, if they had a couple of charms in between them to space them out. ^^ It might be cute to wear the set together.
Once again I enjoyed your review. I love the charm. I love the way you put it together on your red leather but do you use the rubber stoppers to keep the charms from moving around ?
Thanks Linda! ♥ I do have the rubber stoppers but I have actually stopped using them on my leather bracelets for now. They are undoubtedly fab for spacing your charms out, but I am always wanting to change my designs around for reviews etc – and I find the stoppers really difficult to get on and off so it just became really annoying haha.
Hello! Just wanted to pass along a 20% off sale on Pandora that I’ve found. This retailer was an authorized seller of Pandora, but it appears they are not going to be any longer. They ship free in the US and have free wrapping. I’ve used them once before to purchase a gift for my daughter. I just now bought an MLB baseball charm for $60. Here’s the link: https://www.always-forever.com/store/pandorajewelry.html
Hi Clair, thanks so much for the heads-up! There are some fab deals there. Do you think I can persuade them to ship to me in the UK?! ;)
For anyone wondering, Always Forever are authorised Pandora stockists, as Clair says, and are listed here:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/pandora/authorized-online-retailers-in-north-america/292219387484725
Thank you! I just bought the heart clasp bracelet and two heart clips, a steal at 20% off, no tax and free shipping.
Clair, thank you so much for the info!! I just bought several things I’ve had my eye on and for 20% less!
aww, she’s adorable… I like the idea of having dolls to represent countries so much more than the flags!!! I really love the asian inspired bracelet, I’m tempted to do a similar one as i’ve been collecting the retired chinese symbols ;) so far I’ve got my grubby little paws on friendship, happiness and eternity. Lovely bracelet designs as always Ellie! x
Me too, I’d love some more doll charms – they’re just so cute! Although I think the new London guard counts as one for the UK really, I have to have him. ^^
Haha, you have such a fab collection of retired charms, I really need to start collecting some more of the older stuff :) I often get distracted by the new collections but I still need to get the princess and the pea in particular!
Thank you Rachel, I always love your designs too! x
Oh i hadn’t thought of the guard as our doll.. if he is that’s actually quite quirky :) seeing as the current versions are super feminine!
Argh I sold my princess and the pea and now I’m on a mission :( i tend to hunt out the older styles as the longer you leave it the harder it is the pay closer to RRP! haha. I’m a typical student in that sense. That said, I’m not going to be able to resist this collection..! x
Yes, someone on another post mentioned that he works quite well as a British Doll and I just really liked that idea! I don’t know what iconic British qualities you’d put in a more traditional feminine doll, thinking about it…
Ohh no :( I am never quick enough when I see them come up at a reasonable price on the pages! And as you say the prices are going up :( I’m also not at all willing to pay much above RRP so that also gets in the way, haha. Perhaps I’ll try and hunt some down over the summer as I’m not as keen on that release! x
This charm is just simply adorable. I couldnt resist in buying it. I also bought it cause it represents my niece and nephew which are 1/2 Chinese. Wish they would come out with a little Chinese boy but this one is too adorable to let go.
It’s lovely isn’t it – she has such a sweet, happy little smile! How nice that it has that meaning for you, too :) a Chinese boy would have been cute too – they’d have made a lovely set together. Maybe next year!