Today’s post brings my first review for the Pandora Autumn 2016 collection, with a closer look at the limited edition Pandora Pudsey Bear charm, exclusive to the UK. This is the second year in a row in which Pandora have teamed up with BBC Children in Need to produce a special charm, with 20% of the charm’s proceeds going to support the charity.
This lovely bead only came out on Thursday – I received my Pudsey charm in the post this morning, alongside my first Autumn 2016 charm (the gorgeous Fairytale Bloom!) – so this is one of the quickest reviews I’ve ever put together, haha.
Read on for some PandoraxPudsey charm inspiration, with close-up shots and styling ideas!
Pandora Children in Need Pudsey Bear Charm 2016 Review
The 2016 Pudsey Bear is a full-bodied silver charm, with white enamel and coloured enamel dots making up on his iconic bandana.
The charm is pretty similar to last year’s, but with a full-bodied design. I have to say that I do prefer having the fuller detail, as I find the single head charms slightly cartoony – I still find the 2015 Pudsey very cute, but I just prefer the fuller design. To me, Pandora have also done a slightly better job at making it actually look like Pudsey – when you have his full body for context, it’s much more apparent that he’s actually a teddy bear!
Here’s another shot, showing him off in natural light (which is rather grey, as the weather is horrible here today). He’s so cute!
This year, Pudsey has the year stamped underneath him as well (excuse the rather rude shot!). It’s only very small, and blends in with the S925 ALE, but it should please collectors who like special charms to be commemorated with the date. I personally like having dates tucked in somewhere discretely on a limited edition charm – it just adds to the collectability and makes it feel a little more special.
He comes with a poster and a little card, as well. Last year’s Pudsey bear came with a sleeve for the box, but they don’t appear to have done those for this year.
However, as you can see in comparison with last year’s Pudsey charm, this one is rather tiny in comparison! The colours are much less pronounced (which is good or bad, depending on your preferences) and the details of his face are harder to see unless you get up close.
I still, on balance, prefer the full-bodied design, even if it is smaller – but it does make you raise your eyebrows at the £40 price tag.
Styling
Last year, many people found the bright enamel bandana of the Pudsey charm a bit hard to style. As this year’s new Pudsey is so small, this is much less of an issue, as the coloured spots aren’t really big enough to clash with anything. Nevertheless, I’m still going to focus on a couple of stylings that are a bit softer and more delicate, to demonstrate how you can wear these beads without them looking too childish!
To start with, I’ve put both the CIN Pudsey bears on my summer 2016 honeysuckle pink leather bracelet! This adds a nice bright pop of colour – very appropriate for Pudsey – which nevertheless is a bit more wearable than a bright blue, green or yellow, perhaps. I’ve put the delicate Lavender Candy-Stripe murano in between to soften the look a little.
For the next look, I took the Always in my Heart bangle from Mother’s Day 2015, and screwed each Pudsey bear charm either side of the clasp. I then held them in place by adding two of the Steady Heart clips, with silicone inserts inside each. This ends up looking surprisingly elegant, while showing off the cute Pudsey charms rather nicely!
For more styling ideas, you can always see my review of last year’s Pudsey charm too! :)
Conclusion
I find this year’s Pudsey even cuter than last year’s, and I’m thrilled that Pandora and Children in Need are teaming up again. It’s so nice to see the charitable releases and knowing that your bead habit is contributing to a good cause. ^^
The detailing on the charm is very cute, and I love that he’s a bit more ‘traditional’ Pandora with his full-body design. The only downside is that he is very small – however, it’s hard to grumble about value for money when a chunk of the profits are going to charity. The only plus side to the 2016 Pudsey being a bit smaller is that the colours on his bandana stand out less, and he’s much easier to blend with other colour schemes.
Like last year, the Pandora Pudsey Bear charm retails for £40, with 20% of the proceeds going to the Children in Need charity – you can purchase your Pandora Pudsey Bear from authorised retailer John Greed. Please bear in mind that official retailers are not allowed to ship internationally, so if you live outside of the UK you will have to find a friend there who can get hold of one for you!
Have you indulged in one of the 2016 Pudsey Bears, or is it on your wish list?
How cute! I wish Pudsey (and a lot of other charms) were available here. Thanks, Ellie, for the sweet review.
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks! <3 all these country exclusives are a little hard to keep track of, it's true - but some of the fun is in the chase :)
Lovely review Ellie. The new one looks better than last years. I like the full bodied design as well.
Look forward to move reviews.
I prefer this year’s too. It’s nice that the colours aren’t *too* in your face. More reviews are coming! :)
Wish we could have this in the US!! Cute!!
He is adorable! ?
Aw the new Pudsey is so sweet! I like the full-bodied charm better too. I like charms that are smaller in general, the little coffee pot is one of my favourite charms and it is tiny. It is great that we can help such a good cause as well! Thanks for such a lovely review Ellie!
Oh well this one is perfect for you! He is small but perfectly formed ^^ glad you enjoyed the review, thanks for commenting!
Would love the bear for a great cause to bad it’s not available here
Aw, it is a shame – I did look for any retailers who might be able to ship internationally but didn’t find any :( you could always look on the Pandora Facebook groups for help too! :)
I was hoping that Pandora would of picked the other Children in Need mascot, ‘blush’ aka Pudsey’s girlfriend. I’m not even sure if she still is a mascot because she was a few years ago but she’s very cute. Alas, at least it’s better than last year’s and I’ll probably get this one. ?
Aw, that would be really cute! Maybe next year? They can’t keep doing different versions of Pudsey I suppose. ^^ Although another reader suggested that they do a polka-dot style murano in Pudsey’s bandana colours, which would also be amazing!
I wasn’t tempted at all last year but this one is lovely :-). They look so nice together too that I almost wish I’d bought him last year :-/. I’m not sure as there are other things on my list atm, but if Pandora offer the nicer bracelets for a higher spend then I might have to, lol ;-).
Last year’s has become reasonably hard to find, which is unusual for a Pandora limited edition haha. Maybe the same will happen with this one. It will be good to find out what the UK bracelet promo looks like this year – it’s frustrating how little info gets out about UK stuff compared to other regions!
Hi Ellie, I love to read your reviews and always look forward to them. Plz can u advise me, if I want to buy Pandora items from Ebay, especially from another country like USA, how can you tell these charms are genuine, as everyone say it is. I would appreciate ur advise thanks:)
Hi Ab! Nowadays there are so many fakes floating around on eBay that I don’t really recommend buying from there at all. However, if you do decide to go ahead and try it, I wrote an article on fake beads and how to identify them here:
http://www.morapandorablog.com/2013/12/14/feature-how-to-tell-if-a-pandora-charm-is-a-fake/
But it’s so hard to tell on eBay. A lot of the time people steal pictures and what you actually get sent is different from what’s advertised. So you can’t really tell in advance!
:-) It’s a very nice idea to support children in need with an extra charm. I agree that this year’s charm is cuter than last year’s.
By the way, as of tomorrow I’m having a Pandora Giveaway for my blog’s anniversary – http://happyface313.com
HAPPY Sunday, dear Ellie :-)
Oh, that’s nice – congrats on four years of blogging, too! ^^ I have too many bracelets as it is, so I’ll let everyone else have a go at winning it, haha. :)
Hope you had a lovely weekend!
That is such a cute charm! This design is so nice, I think it will make a lot of money for Children in Need. It’s really too bad that they don’t make charms for charity available to ship to all regions.
It is a shame, as it would only mean more money for Children in Need! But Pandora are very strict about shipping internationally :( and there are a number of collectors helping out with Pudsey, so I think a number of them are making their way abroad anyway. ^^
The full bodied Pudsey sure is cute. I know he’s little, but his petite size adds to his cuteness! I like the date stamp. I think it’s good to have the date on special beads like this one.
I like the date, too! So long as it doesn’t interfere too much with the design, I think it’s a nice little detail to have and makes it a bit more collectable. :D
Ahhh I didn’t realise he came out this week I’m definitely going to get him he so cute and for a great cause.
Aha, how could you forget? ^^ Hope he makes his way home with you soon!
Think I’m going to have to ask my family member who is currently in London to pop into Pandora for the third time! Ellie, would you expect all Pandora stores in London to stock this charm?
Good plan! Yes, they should all stock this charm – so long as they don’t sell out (and I don’t imagine they will immediately), your relative should be able to get one from London. :)
Hi Ellie
Good review as always ;-)
This little Pudsey Bear is so adorable. I wish we could have it here in Belgium
Hi Valerie, thank you! ^^ It is a shame that he’s limited to the UK only, especially as international sales would surely help towards the proceeds.
Thank you for another great review. I am so happy that a Pudsey is on his way to me. I was tempted last year and nearly bought him when I was in London last October. However, I’m not a big fan of the “floating head” so decided against it. I really like this little guy and it is so nice that a portion of sales is going to such a worthwhile cause. As for styling him, I am thinking of putting him together with Eeyore since they are both small. As for what else I will add or which bracelet I will use, I haven’t a clue. :). Enjoy your Sunday!
Thanks, Janet! Congrats on finding one, I’m sure you will love him. He is a great match in size for Eeyore, and they’re both kind of children’s characters – so that pairing should work really well! I’m sure you will find the bracelet on which to put them, too. ^^
Thanks, hope you enjoyed your Sunday too!
Love ur styling of pudsey. Looks lovely with the candy stripe. I have a thing for them. I have all nine colors and funnily enough I use them in between my animal charms on a bracelet just for animals !
Love all of ur reviews and styling ideas .
Wow! I didn’t realize there were nine colors of these. I have the orange and red Candy Stripe Muranos, and they are prefect for my mini-Halloween and Christmas bracelets, respectively! They are not easy to find, though, even on the FB selling pages.
They r so versatile and pretty ?
I agree that it’s too bad they couldn’t ship Pudsey internationally since it is for charity. I really like how you styled him especially the bangle with the hearts.
Thanks Gene! <3 It is a shame for international collectors. Luckily the Pandora community is so great when it comes to helping out with stuff like this!
Hi Ellie!
Nice review and stylings of this year’s Pudsey charm. Such a cute charm and a great cause. Too bad it’s not offered here. I much prefer the full-bodied style over the one from last year. Really like your elegant style using the “Always In My Heart” bangle. This particular styling is perfect for enhancing those “hard to style” charms I’ve picked up over the years.
Off point from the Pudsey review, I viewed the Autumn collection in store this weekend. After seeing everything in person, I had to come home and redo my must have list for the spend more/save more event. I was totally surprised to find the Shimmering Medallion extremely light in color, although still a lovely charm. I got a Pandora Rose Moments bracelet during the leather event and I was able to exchange it for the new Rose bangle! I can’t tell you how pleased I was to be able to make the exchange! The Rose bangle is beautiful and so shiny. I came home and added some Pandora Rose charms to my list for the event. The clasp on the bangle is a much prettier color than the moments bracelet I had.
Looking forward to more posts and seeing what everyone ends up with during the spend more/save more event.
Hi Emily! Thanks, Emily – I do feel like this charm is a little easier to style than last year’s, as the colours aren’t so bright, but red, blue, green and yellow in one charm was never going to be the easiest combination ^^
Oh amazing, how nice of the store to let you change it. Ours are quite strict about stuff like that, for the most part. :( I helped someone else out with the Rose bangle recently who couldn’t get it and it is gorgeous! I also love the Rose heart clasp bracelet, but am being good and steering away from adding more bracelets to my collection for now. I have way too many haha. Even I’m saying it!
Thanks, Emily – I’ve picked my promo picks, looking forward to hearing about what you’re getting!
Hi Ellie, thanks for ur reply. I think I will stick to buying from Pandora direct. I have bought myself the sparkling strand bracelet and also the leather sky blue bracelet, but because I have very tiny wrists, I have had to pay extra to have that one made smaller!!!? All worth it?. Love ur reviews, keep up the gud wrk.
Hi Ab, you’re welcome! I think that’s a good decision – that way you have total piece of mind! I’m sure you will love your new bracelets <3
Thanks Ab, hope you continue to enjoy. :D
Eugh, I mean ‘peace of mind!’ Not ‘piece’. It’s early! ;)
Hi, it was my authorised retailer who informed me about your blog and… I love it!
It’s indeed a pity that Pudsey is UK exclusive but I have found a way around that:). My brother lives in England and managed to secure a Pudsey charm for me yesterday, so soon this adorable little bear will be finding his way to Belgium!
Thanks for your superb reviews and congrats on your 4th anniversary.
Hi Brenda! Aw, how nice of them – glad you found your way here! :) And yay for finding Pudsey! Country exclusives can be frustrating, but it’s equally so satisfying when you find your way around it. :D
Thanks for commenting and hope you continue to enjoy the blog!
Is there a 2017 version of the bear?
And how can I get my hands on one in the US?
Hi Mora, just a brief hello to say you are missed and I pray all is well! Looking forward to hearing from you soon!