Today’s post brings my next Pandora review, with a closer look at the new Asian-exclusive pavé star safety chain! I thought this would be a good transitional piece to do while I’m working on some Winter 2015 reviews – while it is technically an Autumn 2015 piece, its starry design fits better with the icy crystals and dramatic blues of some of the new winter charms!
This has really been the season of safety chains, with a total of three new designs making their début across the Autumn and Winter 2015 collections! Unfortunately, this gorgeous starry safety chain is an Asian-exclusive. Seeing as new safety chain designs are always top of collectors’ wish lists, this is a decision by Pandora that I can’t really understand. Nevertheless, there are many lovely ladies who are happy to help out with exclusive items like this one – I got mine from Singapore and it is really very lovely!
The safety chain
I was so excited when I first saw the previews of this piece, and it didn’t disappoint in person! The stars are small, but nicely picked-out, offering a cute but nicely versatile design – it sparkles, but not overwhelmingly so. The two halves of the safety chain are symmetrical, and are identical to the other.
My safety chain came in a 6cm, which is longer than I usually go for, but it doesn’t make a whole lot of difference. From looking at Pandora.net, it does look like this safety chain is available in the usual length options from 4-7cm.
The safety chain’s design is based on the existing Twinkle Twinkle pavé star clip, one of my favourite clip designs. :D It is not exactly the same, however. The stars on the safety chain are a little smaller.
It screws on to the chain, but it’s a little bigger than traditional screw-on safety chains. The ends of it take up the whole of the threads, and it’s quite chunky.
Styling
This safety chain strikes me as the ideal finishing touch for any Winter 2015 bracelet, whether festive or wintry. However, for my stylings for this review, I wanted to do a couple of different sky-themed bracelets.
My first is a night sky, midnight-themed bracelet. This is how I actually wear the safety chain. <3 I was thrilled when I first saw the preview pics of it, as I knew it would be great for this design! The clear, silvery pavé detailing contrasts nicely with the darker muranos and thematically it is perfect, too. :D
My second ‘sky’ design is based around the idea of sunsets and sunrises. I’ve gone for a range of warm pinks, oranges and Pandora Rose to evoke the idea of a beautiful pink-red sky.
This design would be even better if I had more star-themed or sky-related beads to go with the colour scheme, such as the gorgeous openwork A Cloud’s Silver Lining. As it is I don’t have many, and so I’ve gone for beads that best evoke the colours of a morning or evening sky. ^^ Adding a few bird themed pieces would also add nicely to the theme!
Conclusion
This is a nice new safety chain offering from Pandora, with pavé star detailing that is both cute and nicely versatile. It would be perfect to be worn with any bracelets based around the new Winter 2015 collection – it would fit wonderfully with a festive theme or a bracelet based on icy blues and stars. It may not be the most original design, as it’s based on an existing clip, but nevertheless it works really nicely as a safety chain. It makes me wonder which other clips might work well as a matching safety chain!
It is a little bulkier and heftier than previous safety chains, although I’ve found that this seems to stop it twisting off the threads so much. It’s a real shame that Pandora have decided to make one of their coveted new safety chain designs a country exclusive, however. New safety chains are always very much in demand, and the more options available to everyone, the better!
Are you a fan of this design? If so, have you managed to get hold of one? What safety chain designs would you like to see in the future?
I really like this safety chain! Its bigger than the usual but it feels refreshing to me! I really hope they make a similar one for world wide and not an exclusive. I don’t understand why this starry safety chain is an asian exclusive but Pandora probably has some kind of reason for it. Thank you for the review, Ellie!
Also, I’ve been having problems with my Pandora string/cord lavender bracelet screw thingy (I’m not sure what the proper term for this is). The threaded (or screw on) charms kept getting stuck when I tried to screw it onto my bracelet. I took it to the Pandora store and they also had trouble with it, they wanted to swap it for another cord bracelet (but because they are all retired and out of stock apparently), thus I ended up giving it to them for repair. I can’t believe it will take 6-8 weeks to come back :(
But I am wondering why they retired the cord ones so quickly, a lot of people complemented me on it and said they wanted to get it but it was out of stock or retired. Hmmm
Glad to hear you like it too! I quite like the bigger style, and it’s fun that it matches the existing Twinkle Twinkle clips :) I still don’t quite understand the point of country exclusives like this full-stop but it must work, as many brands seem to do it!
Oh no, that’s disappointing. :( Unfortunately I don’t have much experience with the fabric cord bracelets, so I don’t have any personal advice I can give, sorry. It does suck that Pandora repairs have such long turnaround times, but if it helps, the one time I had to send my bracelet off, I had it back much quicker than they told me originally :) The only issues that I’ve heard of with the fabric cords generally was that they are quite hard to keep clean, especially the lighter colours such as the lavender. I don’t know if that contributed to their retirement, though.
Ellie,
I am so glad you chose to review this piece. There aren’t that many safety chain options available, but this one really looks great. I love that it is larger in design and hugs the threads more for a cleaner look. I too am perplexed as to why Pandora chose to make this an Asian Exclusive when it would compliment so many of the charms that were released world wide last year.
Love how you paired the clip with the Pandora Rose charms, for the sky theme. You can really see how the safety chain clips are similar in size to the rest of the charm, making it really seem a part of the bracelet as two additional charms!
As for future safety chain designs, well I would like an all pave safety chain that I think would complement the new pave barrel clasp bracelet or just to put on a bangle to add add some Christmas Bling.
I would love to be able to connect with someone to help me purchase one of these safety chains, I have galaxy themed bracelet that would look far more complete with the Twinkle Twinkle safety chain and so many possible future designs.
Cheers!!
Hi Lisa, I can help! You can write to me at fluffyby [at] hotmail [dot] com
x
Hi Lisa!
Yes, I’ve been looking forward to reviewing this one! :) It’s so exciting to finally have some new safety chain designs, even if this one is limited in availability. The Asian exclusives puzzle me, too. They’re such generic designs, ones that would be popular all round the world- I don’t really understand why they have picked them to be exclusive. It’s funny, seeing as the actual Chinese New Year charms never remain Asian exclusive and get released worldwide eventually – you’d think they would be the more obvious choice for a country exclusive!
Thanks, I think you hit the nail on the head in your comment there – this style of safety chain really does make it look like you’ve just added two extra charms to your bracelet. It blends really nicely :) I think your pavé safety chain design is a real winner, and one that I hadn’t thought of before! I’m hoping that Pandora will continue to experiment with different safety chain designs and styles, as I’m always in need of new ones :D
I was just about to recommend that you got in touch with Kelly (fluffyby) but I see she has already left you a comment. :) Good luck getting hold of one, it sounds like it would be perfect for your galaxy bracelet!
Thanks for commenting <3
Hi, Is there a way to get this star safety chain and the star necklace sent to the USA? I went Friday to get the new bracelet and all of the blue “snowflake” designs but they did not have the ring or the dangle. Any info you have on the stars would be greatly appreciated! Thank you, Carol
Hi, I can help you get the star safety chain and the necklace! You can write to me at fluffyby [at] hotmail [dot] com
x
Hi Carol! The only way to do it is through unofficial means, I’m afraid. No official retailer is allowed to ship overseas. However there are lots of lovely people who offer to help, particularly on the Pandora Facebook pages (check out Pandora’s Tribe and Pandora’s Angels). I see Kelly (fluffyby) has very kindly offered to help out too, in the meantime! <3
Some of the snowflake pieces have been delayed in some regions, unfortunately. There doesn't seem to be any word about production issues yet, just that the pieces are on backorder for now. They should come in eventually as far as I'm aware. :)
Ellie
Hello,
My name is Chris DeCosta, USA.
I am hoping you could let me know your source in Singapore for the starry safety chain. I would love to purchase one!
I love your blog, great ideas for putting together charms, reading responses from fellow Pandorians all over the world. I was able to purchase the Arabian coffee pot from Jana, who I met through the blog.
Thank you!
Hi Christine
I can help you, I am located in Singapore. Please feel free to write to me at fluffyby [at] hotmail [dot] com
Kelly x
Hi Chris! I’m glad to hear you enjoy the blog, and that you’ve been able to get help with some of the exclusives through it too. :D It is nice how the Pandora community always steps up to help each other out, aha.
I got my safety chain from the Facebook Pandora pages – my recommendations are to try Pandora’s Angels or Pandora’s Tribe. It can take a while to get approved, however, as there are checks to make sure everyone who wants to join the page is legit – so it is worth messaging the admins of the pages to speed things up. However I see Kelly (fluffyby) has offered to help you here, and I was just about to recommend her, too – she has helped a few ladies out here and is great at offering to help with the Asian exclusive pieces! :)
Hope that helps! :)
I love both of your designs and think the safety chain goes great with them both.
I love Lisa K’s idea of a pave safety chain to match the pave clasp bracelet. I would like them to bring out another pave clasp bracelet, maybe in a heart shape this time.
Thanks Sarah! <3 The pavé safety chain is a great idea isn't it? I'm kind of surprised that they haven't done that yet already, haha. My top wish for a safety chain would be one in a Pandora Rose finish!
It’s funny that you mention a pavé heart clasp bracelet, as there is one coming out for Valentine’s 2016. ^^ So you’ll get your wish sooner rather than later!
I’m sure they will bring a Pandora rose finish safety chain out at some point.
Yay that’s fab news that there bringing one out in the valentines 2016 collection. That will be going on my list. Do we have any pictures or information on the rest of the valentines collection?
I hope they do! <3
No pictures yet. Hopefully some must be out soon, seeing as the collection will be out in a couple of months!
Hi Ellie!
It’s probably less than 15 minutes I (re)expressed my admiration on your midnight bracelet on your previous post, and here it is! I think I’ll take this as a sign that my decision to make a midnight love bracelet too is definitely right! :-))
I love the design of this SC and it looks great on your bracelet! I hope it comes to Europe soon!
I think clips that would look wonderful as SC are: the “Dots and Ringes” in both silver and rose goldplated versions, the older Heart Clips (791037 and 790959), which both have an interesting shape and the new “Layers of lace” clip. What do you think?
Thank you for this review Ellie! Always a pleasure to read your thoughts! ♥♥♥
Hi Chrysa! <3
Haha, I think it is definitely a sign that your midnight bracelet was meant to be. Especially as Pandora keep doing so many pretty midnight blue pieces! ^^ I doubt the safety chain will be in Europe soon unfortunately. :( You might need to seek some help if you'd like one!
All fab ideas! Dots and Ridges would be great. I especially like your idea for a heart safety chain, particularly the Queen of Hearts one (790959) as that is one of my favourite clip designs. I think it would work really well, especially if it was slimmed down a little. The new plain silver heart clips might work as well, perhaps? I’m sure Pandora have at least considered making that one. They do like their heart clip designs. ^^
Thanks for commenting Chrysa! Always a pleasure to read yours too. <3
Thank you so much for this review! I was wondering about this safety chain, I really thought it was a clip-on, also thought it would be identical to the twinkle twinkle clip. I was very disappointed to see this was an Asian exclusive but now that I know it’s a twist on I’m not sure I want it anymore, is it heavy?
Yes, it does seem like it would be a clip-on doesn’t it? Especially as its design is based on an existing clip! I prefer twist-ons though, so I was pleased to find it wasn’t. It’s quite solid, yes, so it’s a little heavier than other safety chains. I don’t find it distractingly hefty when I’m wearing it though. :)
Hi Ellie I really like this safety chain I was devastated to find out it was an Asian exclusive. It’s a lot bigger than I thought it would be, it really is lovely those. I would love one one day I don’t really need it at the moment but one day I would love to get one. Have you got anything of the new collection what reviews are coming up.
Hi Nicola! Yes, I was disappointed too – it seems like an odd choice for a country exclusive, given how popular it would be worldwide. I hope one finds its way to you one day ;)
I have got myself the new holly murano from the new collection (sooo cute!) and I have another four charms or so I want to get (the Dainty Bows, the Puppy and Reindeer) but I won’t have those for a little while as I’m getting them from abroad. I’ve also got one of the new Disney Parks holiday charms on its way to me. In the meantime, I’ll be reviewing the Layers of Lace clips too :) So there will be lots of Christmassy reviews coming up! ^^
Cool you don’t hang around with purchasing them lol. :)
Lol nope! Although the reason I’m getting so many in one go this time is mainly because my brother can get them so much cheaper for me from Australia and he’s only there for another week. And the more new charms I have, the more I have to post about too :)
I like this safety chain enough that I may try to hunt one down, and I’m particularly liking the trend of matching clips and safety chains. I have a blue – themed bracelet ( that includes my Sorcerer Mickey charm) with blue tendril clips. I’d really love to see the tendril clips introduced as a safety chain, even if they decided to leave off the stones to make it easy to coordinate.
I like this trend as well! The fact that they have clearly just come up with the idea of matching safety chains to clips gives me hope that we might see more safety chain designs in the future. I love your idea for a tendril themed safety chain – I need a new safety chain design to finish off my forest/nature theme bracelet and that would be perfect! <3
:-) I’ve been thinking about a chain for such a long time. This one I’d wear! :-)
Yay! The upcoming Dainty Bow design is similar in style to this one too :)
So beautiful!!! :) Totally wish this safety chain was available globally. Thx for the review. <3 Cindy
I agree! It’s a shame that they’ve limited it as I’m sure there are many people worldwide who would like to have one. Glad you enjoyed the review! <3
Hi Ellie
It’s really been a long while! I have been piled up by work and then I went to Japan for a holiday. Weather was very nice, I thought it would be too cold for my liking but it turned out to be around 18 – 20 degrees Celsius which was just lovely. We visited Universal Studios Japan which is located in Osaka. The latest attraction there is called the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. And as expected, the queue to get on one of the rides there was crazy, 200 minutes waiting time. >_< So we skipped that and hopped on other rides. Japan is really a fun place especially when it was close to Halloween. So many people dressed up (cosplay) as different characters. But the most popular one was Minion. There were Minions everywhere when I was at the USJ. XD
I was also thinking of getting a charm from Japan, but upon seeing the price, my husband said I could get it in Singapore instead as exchange rate wasn't that great. And when we were in the plane, I managed to convince him that the airline exclusive "I Love to Travel" set was very pretty (would men really think so?) and he got me one. I'm happy!
And Disney is coming to Singapore! Yippee! Excitement and all that aside, I'm not sure if I'm going to get the limited edition Mickey and Minnie pave portraits. Reason is, well, pave. They, and Mickey and Minnie dangles will make a debut this Thursday. Will you be getting them?
Oh yes, and I made a lovely friend from this blog. We are now connected via FB and considered 'Pandora sisters'. We even plan to do a Christmas gift swap! You know who you are! ^^
Ellie, thank you for the blog. It's always packed with additional inspiration I need (to create bracelets or to make new purchases).
Kelly xx
Hi Kelly! Glad to hear that you’ve been having such a great holiday in your absence. I would absolutely love to go to Japan, it’s on my bucket list. ^^ I’m terrified of flying though, haha, but hopefully I will steel myself for the long flight and do it someday. I can imagine how fun it was, being that close to Halloween! I saw quite a few people dressed as minions here in the UK too though, haha!
The nice thing about being in the UK is that, wherever I go abroad, the exchange rate is almost guaranteed to work in my favour. ;) So I always tend to hunt down a Pandora when I’m on holiday these days! At least you got your airline exclusive suitcase – it’s is one of my favourite special charms, and one of the ones that can genuinely be difficult to track down! <3
I will admit that I am not a fan of the LE Mickey & Minnie. I am not averse to a little pavé usually, but I don't like its usage there so they are not for me! It's a shame as I would usually be all over a limited edition Disney release ;) and their little boxes are beyond cute. I hear that they are much nicer in person than in either the stock image or live photos, but I don't want to risk it!
Aw that's so nice to hear! I love it when people meet/help each other out through the blog. It's fun to be part of the Pandora community in that way. :D
You're so very welcome! It's so much fun to do. Thank you for reading and commenting, it's always a pleasure!
xx
I love your Pandora Rose and light pink design Ellie, beautiful :-D <3 Your new Sparkling Butterfly looks great, that's my favorite of all the Pandora Rose charms! I love your midnight design too.
This is a very nice safety chain, I just never got into the safety chains I guess. I've been lucky and never had a bracelet open unexpectedly or break.
Thanks Natalie! <3 The Sparkling Butterfly and Darling Daisy are both in contention to be my favourite Rose charm. The whole Spring 2015 Rose collection was rather lovely I think.
I have never had a bracelet open or break, either, and I mostly use my safety chains for decorative purposes, just to finish the look. ^^ Oh, actually, I did have one bracelet pop open once… but that was when I took a bit of a nasty fall down some stairs (which makes me sound old, but they were wooden steps and it was very slippery! :P) and hit my wrist with some force… it kind of ripped the bracelet open and it fell straight off. Amazingly, when I inspected it, it was fine! Not a scratch on it and it clasped again perfectly. That was my two-tone Essence. Other than that, no issues at all and that one time was only because I hit it so hard!
Wow, thank goodness you were fine in that fall! I’ve had some bad falls myself, luckily not when I was wearing Pandora ;-)
I saw your other comment about the pave heart clasp bracelet for Valentine’s Day, any other Valentine 2016 news or photos yet? I wonder if the pave will be 2 sided like the clip or 1 sided like the heart bangle.
Haha, thanks. It was mostly just embarrassing, but luckily no one saw ;)
Well I hear that there’s a lot of hearts and pavé again, and that the colour scheme is pink. As soon as I get photos I can share, I will post them! ^^
I don’t need any safety chain yet because I only put charm in between the clips. I am still waiting for the free bangle promotion, it is a long wait :)
That is a long wait! I admire your patience ^^
Hi Ellie,
I am coming back from holidays and read all your post, it’s like a gift ;) I have not yet see the collection, it’s for friday and I can’t wait ! My first will be the abundance of love I hope it will be also beautiful in truth.
I am waiting for the rest the promotion in Canada. Do you know if the black friday charm is sold only the friday or if my friend can wait to buy it later for the 125$ buy get the bracelet free ?
Many thanks for all Ellie ;)
Hi Isabelle, it’s lovely to hear from you! I hope you enjoyed your holidays. ^^ Have fun seeing the new collection, I’m sure you will love it! I haven’t seen the new Abundance of Love as it is not released in the UK yet, but it looks pretty from the live shots I have seen.
The Black Friday charm will be sold whilst stocks last, so your friend is free to wait. If you’re talking about the Dainty Bow bangle promo though, it is due to start on Black Friday too, so there’s no waiting necessary! ^^
Thanks for commenting Isabelle! <3
Hi Ellie,
Yessss ! The first time I check the calendar I have saw that the date did not agree, my mistake ;) Thanks for the good news aha.
Do you know witch one is the black friday charm I have read so many things, I don’t know who’s right. In fact, it’s not really matter : I want both ! oO
Thanks for answer Ellie
Hi Isabelle, haha you’re welcome. The two-tone version is the North American Black Friday charm… I wish I knew what was going on with the opalescent charm! I don’t know when or where that one will be available :)
Hi, Ellie!
I love both of your designs, but the sunrise/sunset styling is particularly inspiring.
I seldom use the safety chains because I don’t like most of the designs. This one I like, but it is not available here. I wish Pandora would rethink these regional exclusives!
Hi Angie! Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed them! The sunrise bracelet was a little unusual for me, as I usually go for quite matchy colours, and putting together the pink and orange seemed a little counter-intuitive. I think it was nice for a change though!
It is a shame that this one is exclusive. I’m a little incredulous that they would make a safety chain a country-exclusive, especially as fans have been asking for new designs for so long! I hope you find one, if you’d like one. :)
Will there ever be a rose gold safety chain? I am sure there are many that would like to see one.
I certainly hope so! That would be top of my wish list for safety chains. :) I don’t have any info on that though unfortunately.
Love all your design. It’s always so inspiring. Seems like the new safety chain are much bigger to resemble charms. I was going for the dainty bow safety chain but end up getting an older one because I still prefer the smaller size.
Now that all the 2015 collections are out, I’m really looking forward to see what’s for the coming year. I’m excited to hear that a pave heart claps bracelet is coming up. That will going to be on my Wishlist for sure. Any more news or pictures on next collection?
Thank you! <3 Yes, I wonder if we will see more matching clip and safety chain sets in the future. I'd be happy with that, so long as we got more safety chain designs!
The only news I have for now is that there is a good chunk of hearts and pavé charms :) Hopefully pictures soon!
More pave?? Hope it’s done tastefully like the swan and not just pave the whole charm for the sake of having more bling.
I agree! Fingers crossed. :S
Hi, i’m so happy u post this safety chain!
I have bought it from a girl but I’m not sure it’s original…
My store can’t help me because it is not purchasable in Italy :(
Can you help me?
Ps: sorry for my English :D
Hey Gaia, sure, let’s see what I can do. If you send me a couple of photos to mora0pandora@gmail.com, I can take a look for you. The clearer the better! :)
I send u a pm thanks Ellie :)
I’ve just replied to you Gaia! :)
Hi Ellie, how essential do you think it is to get a safety chain? I don’t want bracelet to open one day and for the charms to fall out, yet I am not fully convinced that the safety chain is absolutely needed. It seems more like a marketing ploy to get ppl to buy more Pandora bec if the bracelet is good quality then the clasp shouldn’t snap open… What are your thoughts?
Hi Judie! If I’m completely honest, I’m not sure that they are that necessary. You rarely hear about Pandora clasps failing – if the bracelet is going to fall off your wrist, then it is more likely to be because the chain has snapped, and then your safety chain will not help you. I usually have safety chains for aesthetic reasons. The exception to that is the heart-clasp bracelet, and teh Essence bracelet, which both have histories of faulty clasps.