A very happy Mother’s Day to all who have been celebrating it today! To mark the day, I’m offering a review of the adorable new Precious Boy and Girl charms from the Pandora Mother’s Day 2015 collection. These, alongside the Asian-exclusive Complete my Heart pendant, were my only two charms from this year’s Mother’s Day collection and I love that they offer a little more versatility beyond the release’s other, more explicitly maternal charms.
I’m sorry it’s been a little longer than usual since my last update, but I have just been so busy getting a number of university papers ready for submission tomorrow. I should be more present on the blog after that, haha.
The charms
I like the way that these new versions of the Boy and Girl charms have kept that chubby, stylised sweetness from the originals, but simultaneously also offer more sophisticated detail. A reader a little while back compared them to Lego people in style and I do think they have that look about them!
The Precious Girl is probably my favourite of the two charms, with her sweet little pigtails and her cute pinafore-dress. Their stumpy feet also mean that, rather adorably, these two charms will stand up on their own too.
The Precious Boy is similar in style, sporting a stripy jump-suit instead of spots.
Like the girl, he has a very sweetly happy face and is undoubtedly very chubby and cute-looking. However, I do think the back of boy lacks the detailing of the girl’s – it looks a bit undefined to me in comparison.
One of my favourite things about both of these charms are their adorable little feet! You can also find the hallmarks for both of them stamped here, which is a cute way of incorporating it into the charm, I think.
They are very light, and rather small (I don’t have the original boy and girl charms, but I imagine these are smaller than them). However, both are threaded charms. They are also prone to flipping on the bracelet chain when you are wearing them.
Styling
The boy and girl are great for representing your children or loved ones on your Pandora bracelet, so my first instinct was to create a small leather design with a couple of heart pendants. Here I’ve used the new Complete my Heart pendant and the beautiful retired rhodolite heart pendant, which is one of my favourite stones. It’s disappointing that we most likely won’t see Pandora working with them, or any other genuine gemstones, again.
When I picture creating a family-themed bracelet, cosy warm reds always spring to mind for me for some reason. I’ve created another mini-leather design, but I think the boy and girl would look gorgeous as part of a full silver design based on the Wild Flower Tribute murano. With the addition of some white daisies and some other familial charms – such as the Home, Sweet Home and the Dog House – it would look very sweet.
However, personally I am adding my Boy and Girl to my Valentine’s pink-and-red bracelet. They are, of course, perfect to represent your children and that’s what I have focused on in this review, but I am actually using these two as a fun little representation of my OH and me!
This bracelet is almost finished (I just need to buy two white Fizzle muranos – the two white muranos pictured here are borrowed from other bracelets!), which is rather exciting!
Conclusion
These are two very sweet little charms – particularly the Precious Girl – and are perfect for representing your loved ones on a bracelet design, whether that be your children, your whole family or you and your significant other! They’re also two relatively inexpensive offerings, and it’s lovely to see two plain silver designs amongst all the pavé sparkle that characterises a lot of this year’s Mother’s Day 2015 collection.
The Precious Boy and Girl are $35 USD or £25 each. If you’re in the UK, you can buy them alongside the rest of the Pandora Spring collection from authorised retailer John Greed.
Have you bought either of these two charms, or are they on your wish list? What charms are your favourites from the Mother’s Day collection?
These charms are so adorable! I got the little girl charm to represent our only daughter and as you said, the detailing is very charming.
As for the boy charm, I’ll be looking forward to getting it in the future! ;)
Aw how lovely! The detailing on these both is rather adorable – very cute and chunky, but with a bit more sophistication than the previous versions. :D
I have both! Along with the Complete My Heart charm, I intend to wear them with the Mother’s Day inscripted bangle, on each end of the inscription and with the Complete my Heart dangle in the middle. I am trying to make the Boy and Girl stay put and ebay has a few options but it is boggling and I am not sure which ones to get since the only charms I know are Pandora’s. If I can’t get the stoppers, I will just invest in clips and use them on each end of the inscription instead. My favourite of your styling will be on the leather bracelets. They just look so adorable their and I think you have just set me off to looking at spacers. I like the simple ones on the first leather bracelet. Once again, awesome review and styling! All the best for your submission!
Ooh Ariane, that’s a lovely idea! That will look absolutely beautiful. It is difficult to get charms to stay put on the bangles and the leather bracelet… I used to use the clear silicone stoppers that you can purchase on eBay but I have now given up on them, as I find them so hard to get on and off. I’m always taking bracelets apart to do these reviews and it was too much fuss. Pandora do black rubber clip inserts that you can use with the clips to keep them in place, and that’s what I’m using on my bangle right now.
However, something like these might work quite well for you – they’re sterling silver stoppers with silicone cores. They wouldn’t detract too much from your design and they’d look nice I think:
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTMwMFgxNTAw/z/TT8AAOSwstxVQ3DM/$_12.JPG
Thank you! I am a bit crazy about the leather bracelets at the moment, and I’m sure it shows in my reviews, haha. The spacers on that first leather bracelet are called the Open Sky spacers – they’re not available here in the UK for some reason, and I got my parents to bring me them back from a holiday in Amsterdam. ^^ They’re probably my favourite spacers I own. Very pretty in their simplicity!
Thank you very much, Ariane! <3 The papers are submitted now and I can breathe again, haha.
I absolutely love the little boy and girl. I’m not a mother myself but I would love to buy them to represent my niece and nephew. Totally cute!
I know, they’re amazingly cute! I knew I had to find a way to use them when I first saw the stock images of them ^^ That’s a lovely idea to use them to represent your niece and nephew, too!
You read my mind with this review. I received the Always In my Heart charm and the little boy dangle today for Mothers Day. I was thinking at maybe exchanging the dangle for the new little boy. I do love the new charms better. What do you think ? Good luck on your papers. I’m glad those days are behind me lol.
Yay, I know that you’ve been wanting the Always in My Heart for ages! <3 I prefer the new boy charm to the dangle, but both are wonderfully sweet – the only thing I'd mention is that my OH's mother has the little boy dangle to represent him and his brother, but she's had problems with it breaking and has had to have it replaced/repaired a couple of times.
Thank you! <3 Aha I very much empathise with that – these are the times when I wonder why on earth I wanted to do another degree lol.
Not sure if I should exchange it for the new boy without my sister knowing of course lol
Which one would fit best with your bracelet? You could always go into store and try the new boy, see which looks best? You’ll have to hide the new charm from your sister if you do decide to swap it though haha!
Hi ellie. Hope u are having a nice day relaxing after completing all of your university papers. Don’t know if u have exams to write but if so, good luck. Just wanted to send off a little note to say i finally got the shimmering rose clip for Mother’s Day from my precious daughter. It’s a beauty! Had pre ordered it since before its projected release date and had been told just this past Thursday that it would not be offered as a single charm, only in the gift set, until end of May, beginning of June, ugh! Imagine my surprise and joy to open this package to find it sparkling up at me, yayyy! I also received the “light as a feather” pave version, since i have recently lost a significant amount of weight. It too is a keeper! I do love the boy and girl charms and find myself drawn to them more and more each time I see them. May have to pick them up at a later date. Now anticipating the summer release and the leather bracelet promo in June. What are you looking forward to purchasing next?
I know in Canada and US the leather bracelet promo was cancelled and the ring promotion moved to take it’s place. Not sure about UK
I have the rings promo down for June as well, Katie! :)
Hi Cheryle! Thank you, I had a great day in the end yesterday – submitted my papers yesterday afternoon without too much last-minute stress and went out for the evening. So nice after the last few weeks of constant writing haha! I hope all is well with you, too!
Ooh how lovely! It is a beautiful clip – and I’m glad you managed to get it on its own, too! Congratulations on your weight loss, too; what a wonderful use for the light as a feather charm, I had never thought of that before! I have the Light as a Feather in Pandora Rose, and it’s one of my favourites. The Boy and Girl charms are so cute (my favourite charms from the Mother’s Day collection), you should definitely have another look at them. :P
Yes, I’m looking forward to summer too, although I’m not sure exactly what I want from it yet! I think the Orchid and the Club charm will probably be coming home with me, and I’m going to see what I think of the new leather bracelets and Petite Facets in person too. What are you planning to get from summer?
Hi ellie. Sorry for delay in replying. Spring is a busy time. Thank you for your kind wishes on my weight loss. Lots of hard work but success in loss of 83 pounds. Dont know what that works out to in your measures. Any way i feel great and my daughter wanted to celebrate it by gifting the “light as a feather” charm to me. I am looking forward to seeing the new leather bracelets as well. The green one looks lovely but the blue one looks like it may be a little bright for me and maybe make it difficult to match future charms to. Will have to wait and see it in person. I am also interested in the openwork tropical, the ocean pave’, the orchid, dolphin and turtle.(I think you get the picture). Again, in other words, almost everything haha.i like to purchase the collection pieces at one time, and then I distribute them on my different bracelets. This set I think will stay on a leather but which color , is yet to be decided. I have just started on leather so a whole new world has opened up. Wish there was a teal braided leather as i think this would work for me with teal being my favorite color. Patiently waiting here in Canada. Thank you again for your pandora knowledge and insight. I appreciate the time and hard work you put into all of your reviews.??
83 pounds! Wow, that is an amazing achievement – that charm from your daughter is very well-deserved :) Congrats again!! I agree with you on the leather bracelets; I was initially leaning towards the blue, too, but it looks a tad bright in the live shots that have emerged. Consequently I’m hoping that the green is as pretty in person as it looks in the pictures! ^^ Haha sounds like the Summer release is a hit with you! The colours are truly beautiful, and I’m a bit scared that they are going to prompt some impulse purchases when I do go and see it all in person :P
Ooh how exciting that you’ve just got into the leathers. I have recently been so into my leather bracelets, and I’ve been wearing them loads – I just love to stack and layer them with my other bracelets. I’d love a teal one like you suggest! <3
I'm so glad to hear that you're enjoying them! Thank you for taking the time to comment Cheryle, your comments are always a pleasure to read! <3
They are so cute with so much detailing, I see you have completed your bracelet, that didn’t take very long haha. Will you be doing a bracelet review?.
Aha, I know – I have never finished a bracelet so quickly! Although technically it’s waiting for me to buy two white fizzles to be completely done ^^ The last bracelet I completed was in summer last year so I’m quite excited to be finishing this one haha. Do you mean a review of the bracelet design?
Yes please
I will see what I can do! ^^
They are so much cuter than the originals!
Yes I prefer these versions as well! <3
I really like both charms but I don’t have any children so they would be meaningless to me… for the time being. I think the boy charm is less detailed because there is less you can do with them in terms of their hair and clothing. Plus I think little girls are a tiny tiny bit cuter than little boys anyways ( I am sure some would disagree though!)
Yes I think you are right on the boy charm’s detailing – I just felt there was quite a discrepancy in detailing when looking at them side by side. Maybe they could have given him dungarees or something haha!
I think they are very cute and have thought since I first saw them that they look a little like Pebbles and BamBam from the Flintstones, including the clothes!
Aha, I hadn’t thought of that but that is a very a fun comparison. They are very cute!
Best wishes to all mommies for yesterday and all the best to you Ellie for your university projects! I’m a quite new Pandora fun (less than a year) and I’ve resently discovered your site! Congrats on your great job! You’re my new Pandora friend! :-) I really enjoyed your review and totally loved the idea of treating the precious Boy and Girl as a couple, for us who aren’t moms yet! I got excited with Mother’s Day collection; I bought the “Always in my heart” bangle for me and we (me and my brother) gifted the “Motherly love” openwork and the “We love you” card pendant to our mother (her first Pandora charms)! I’ ve decided to make my first gorgeous bangle Cinderella-inspired, as you suggested in a previous review of yours! I followed your advice and asked a lady to help me purchase the Disney Coach Pumpkin; can’t wait to receive it! I’ll also add the “Sparkling Stilleto” and the “First dance” charms, which are first in my list with next month’s salary… Thank you again for your great reviews! ♥ ♥ ♥
Thank you Chrysa! ♥ They were submitted yesterday without too much last-minute stress haha. It’s so nice to hear that you are enjoying the reviews, as they are by far my favourite thing to write! It’s great to hear about other people’s Pandora projects too, so thank you for sharing too.
Congrats on finding the Coach Pumpkin, I’m sure you will love it! :D Your design sounds lovely, especially with the Always in my Heart bangle – that elegant script is perfect for a fairy-tale theme. While I love all the Pandora Disney Cinderella charms, there’s something so fun about picking out charms from the regular collection to fit with Disney designs! The First Dance is absolutely perfect for a Cinderella design, I never thought of that one before. The little silver alarm clock is also great for a Cinderella theme. I’d love them to do another clock charm to replace it, as it’s retired now. :(
Thanks so much for commenting Chrysa! Hope you continue to enjoy the blog! ♥ ♥
I got the Girl as soon as the collection was released. It is so much more beautiful than the original girl-charm, which, honestly, I don’t like at all. At the moment I am wearing it with a Teddy Bear-charm and a couple of polka-dotted muranos.
I am , as usual, very much impressed by you stylings. I particularly like the way you combine the chosen charms with another two or three. Because this is how I myself wear Pandora: not too many charms on my bracelet.
Thank you for a wonderful review and hi-quality photos which deserve a separate compliment!
Yes I agree – I personally find these new charms much prettier than the originals! Your bracelet design sounds adorable, really sweet and coordinated! <3
Thank you so much for your lovely comment Natalia; it's so rewarding to hear that you enjoyed the review! I do tend to fill up all my Pandora bracelets but lately I have been rather crazy about my leather bracelets so my favourite stylings feature fewer charms at the moment! ^^
1. What do you mean when you say Pandora won’t be working with genuine gemstones again?
2.Also, related, do you think there’s any validity to the somewhat widespread chatter that Pandora is starting to slack on quality(i.e. things starting tto break more easily, clasps becoming almost effortless to open after only a handfukl of wears…just a few examples I’ve heard.)?
As for the latter, I’m on the fence, but I’m just hearing more and more stories bent that way…just wondering what youthink! Thanks!
Hi Tara! I meant that Pandora have effectively ditched their older style, which featured genuine gemstones, and now seem to exclusively work with synthetic stones (cubic zirconia, synthetic ruby, synthetic spinel, synthetic quartz) – at least with the Moments range. As that it is the more profitable move for them, and it doesn’t seem to have affected their sales, I don’t think that we will be seeing a return to the use of genuine gemstones again, unfortunately.
In regards to your second question, I personally have not found that to be the case with the jewellery I own. I have not had a problem with dangles breaking or clasps opening etc so far – touch wood! So, going off my personal experience, I haven’t experienced or noted any reduction in quality. It’s possible that there are wider problems but it is not something I have encountered myself yet :)
What I do think, however, is that there has definitely been a move towards jewellery items with a higher profit margin – there have been many more openwork designs (which don’t feature threads and therefore contain less precious metals), which are cheaper to produce, and charms which feature use of enamel and cubic zirconia (which are cheap to manufacture and yet allow them to push the price up). So I think that the truth is that you probably get less for your money these days.
I just CANNOT wait for some autumn previews. Spring and autumn are my favourite releases. I would love to see more flower themed charms, maybe some leaf-tree themes would be lovely. I check your blog regularly for the preview, but I guess it would be up in around July, right??
Hi Karolina! When we get new previews seem to fluctuate a lot each season, so I’m afraid I can’t predict for you just yet when the new collection previews will be out! :) I’m at the mercy of what I find online or what my sources kindly send me. Last year was early June-ish but it may be different this year!
I would love to see more forest-y designs. I loved the Mystic Floral collection from last year! <3
Yes, me too! I would have gotten so many charms from that collection if I could. It was the best release so far, in my opinion. :) my birthday is on September, so I can’t wait to start picking out my present haha :P I know we already have a bunch of florals, but it’s just never enough for me! ^^
It was one of my favourite autumn releases too – I get tired of all the hearts and the sparkle from Pandora sometimes, but I always have room in my collection for more flowers too haha! My birthday is also in September so I will also be on the look out for potential presents ;)