Today’s post brings a fun mid-week update with a little round-up of some Canadian exclusive engraved charms for 2018! I’ve been posting about US exclusive engraved charm designs for a while, but there are actually a lot of Canadian exclusive designs, as well, including some really cool Chinese New Year charms and some floral pieces.
However, as Pandora Canada doesn’t list any of them online, it’s taken a while to get any kind of comprehensive round-up of what’s available. It’s a pity that Pandora don’t sell them via the Canadian eStore, as it would make it much easier to see what’s available. The US eStore is pretty good at updating with all their exclusive engraved beads.
The other issue is that, if you want any of these beads, they’re only officially available in physical stores – so you can’t order them via Pandora.net. I don’t know if they’re available from all Canadian stores, so I would advise that you ring your local store to find out what they’re offering.
All live images are courtesy of tiedyedeb, who has them available via her online store, unless otherwise specified. Read on for a look at all these designs!
Pandora Engraved Charms for Canada
All these designs are based on Pandora’s stock engravable charms, which have become increasingly prolific in recent months. Pandora tend to wheel these out when they want to do designs that have a more specific niche and that won’t have worldwide appeal.
The first set of charms are all related to the Lunar New Year, and they’re a funny choice to me for Canadian exclusives to me, as I don’t really get why Pandora would want to limit these beads to Canada. Nevertheless, First up, we have the Good Fortune charm:
However, my favourites of the CNY ones are these red enamel charms. The lick of colour against the silver is striking, and makes them look more original than most of the other engraved designs. The Lucky Fish design taps into traditional Chinese iconography for the Lunar New Year:
The Happy Together charm shows a dragon and a phoenix in balance, detailed in red enamel. I actually did some research to find out more about this symbol:
Two of the most powerful of the four celestial animals are the dragon and phoenix.
The dragon and phoenix are the perfect couple in Feng Shui. Dragon is “yang” while Phoenix is “yin”, and they complement each other in creating yin-yang balance to harvest successful matrimonial bliss.
I love the phoenix motif particularly. It would be great to see a proper charm dedicated to one.
The Wishing Wealth dangle completes the Canadian exclusive Chinese New Year set; I like that the enamel design makes full use of the available silver! I did a little research on this one, and it seems to be a traditional gold coin motif for the Lunar New Year.
You can see it again in this image from Pandora Southgate. It’s sold in a set with the two Lotus charms, which are two of my favourites from the Canadian exclusives. I love floral designs, and I think the silver engraved heart looks more distinctive than the pavé button or the engraved dangles.
Next, we have some Canadian exclusive designs that are more culturally relevant to Canada itself! ^^ The Mittens dangle is adorable, and would be my choice of a souvenir if ever I went to Canada.
The Fleur de Lis charm is a symbol from the Quebec flag:
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, then you’ll know how much I love florals – the Trillium floral pendant is my favourite of this set! I love the delicate enamel and the little silver centre at the heart of the petals. This is associated in particular with Ontario.
The Totem Pole charm is another of the coolest designs among this set. Research on this particular symbol threw up this:
The totem pole (also known as a monumental pole) is a tall structure carved out of cedar wood, created by Northwest Coast Indigenous peoples to serve variously as a signboard, genealogical record and memorial.
The Inuksuk charm is another really interesting one, based on an Inuit practice of constructing figures from piled stones in order to communicate. However, of all the engraved designs, I think it loses something in practice – it looks quite unformed – even mummy-like. It could work well on a Halloween bracelet for that reason, haha.
It’s hard to see all the detail of the East Coast Lighthouse charm, as the silver is so shiny (a problem I often have when doing my own reviews!) but it’s effectively a pretty lighthouse design in teal, white and red enamel. It has Canada engraved on the back.
Finishing off, we have the J’aime Quebec charm, which is the least distinctive charm of the set.
My Comment
I think there are some really interesting and thoughtful designs amongst this set; like many collectors, I love it when Pandora dig deeper into regional culture, and when you actually learn some interesting things through collecting beads! My favourites of these are the CNY beads, particularly the Happy Together phoenix/dragon design, and the florals – the Trillium and Lotus beads.
Do you like any of these designs, or have you managed to pick any of them up? If you live in Canada, have you seen any in your local store?
The exclusive charms are really interesting. However its strange the the chinese new year charms are not release in Asia. I would love to get the dragon and phoenix one for my sister-in-law to be as a wedding gift for their coming big day.
I completely agree – the CNY beads are a funny choice for Canadian exclusives. I particularly like the dragon & phoenix as well. :)
I live in Windsor, Ontario, Canada and would love to find out where to get the red mitten dangle charm and the trillium charm. I have not seen them in the stores I shop at here.
You can find them online from people at the Pandora’s Tribe group on Facebook just request to join! I ordered mine from a very kind lady on there! They have all the Canadian charms!
I have only seen the Mittens bead on the Pandora Southgate Instagram page – perhaps it is only available there. :/ Some of these engraved beads are very confusing in terms of availability!
Pandora’s official name for that charm is Canadian Winter. I just received some in from Pandora today. It is a beautiful detailed charm. Here is the link if you are interested:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/282846058949
Hi Ellie,
Firstly, please visit Canada (though you may want to wait for spring/summer)! We would warmly welcome you! Thanks for the “Canuck”review of Pandora charms. Given the number of Canadian expats in the US (and also UK), I also cannot understand why Pandora does not make these available online. There was also an exclusive Canada150 Pandora charm, which was launched last summer (which I purchased), which, for some reason,, was only available through an official “Canada150” supplier of merchandise, commissioned by the Canadian government for the 150 celebrations in 2017. It was not, as far as I know, available across the country (though may have been in some Ottawa-area stores).
https://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiizbC5rZXZAhUpyoMKHdwXAbUQjRx6BAgAEAY&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcanada150merchandise.ca%2Fitem.php%3Fi%3D64&psig=AOvVaw176ADUn7z4go-fBz06ndR4&ust=1518146197862785
Haha, thank you! I would love to go to Canada – my dad has a lot of family over there. I am deathly afraid of flying, but hopefully I will be successful in getting over it and get to visit some amazing places.
Thank you for the heads-up regarding the Canada 150 charm, I must have missed that last year. That’s a fun bead!
I’m so in love with there Chinese new year charms. How can I get my hands on these beauties
Well, Deb has them at her eBay store (link at the top) – I have purchased a Trillium bead from her. She has authentic stock. :) Otherwise, you will need to get a friend in Canada to see if a local store has them to purchase. These are tricky to get hold of!
The totem pole looks very similar to the travel exclusive charm I got at a Pandora store in Alaska. I’ll have to send you a pic.
Oh please do!
Hi Ellie!
These charms, while blank stock styled, have some very interesting detail. I really like the “pile of stones/mummy”!
I probably won’t hunt these down from Canada since I am busy whittling down my list for the Spring Release. So far I haven’t managed to shorten it much. Lol!
Thanks, as always, for the info.
Ugh! Awkward wording. I meant blank charms that are used for the designs. I think I’m just tired; maybe it’s not a complete brain freeze!
Hi Deborah! Haha, I got what you meant! A lot of the engraved beads leave me unmoved, as I don’t consider them ‘proper’ charms a lot of the time, but there are some very interesting designs in this set. It was fun researching each one for the article!
Love the totem pole with all the colors and reminds me of the Southwest USA and I especially love the trillium flower. Since I am not Canadian that is where it will stay! I guess I am lucky when I hear their prices are higher. So the Spring Summer collections 2018 will keep my addiction busy.
The Trillium was one of my favourites, too! I’ve ordered that one, and am considering putting it with my other planned purchases for Spring. I was meant to be saving up for Spring but I am such a magpie at the moment haha.
Hi Ellie, I wouldn’t have known about these Canadian exclusive charms if not for your blog. I haven’t seen these in stores but then haven’t been in since there after Xmas promos. I might go for a look at the CNY charms as looking for non-dangle ones to balance out my CNY bracelet. I like the dragon and Phoenix charm along with the lotus flower ones. Do you have price for set? Also, will these CNY charms be available past the lunar celebration?
Hi Kelly! Yes, the set I mentioned is $150 CAD. I don’t know how long the lunar new year beads are sticking around for – I suspect that they will not be permanent additions to the line-up in Canada, however.
Thanks for letting me know so I will head out to take a look and not miss out.
I wen6 to Pandora store and talked to a S.A. who said CNY charms still available after start of CNY on the 17th. No fancy gift wrap but they had Pandora branded red lucky enough envelopes and $15.00 Off coupons at the counter also in red. I didn’t buy anything as too busy being Valentine’s Day and like to take my time picking items out. I think but not sure if coupon is specific to a CNY purchase as printed red and gold colours as didn’t ask. This was in Alberta Canada. They didn’t have the set with lotus charms at the location I went to yesterday. I may go back tomorrow to purchase the Fortune and wealth dangle when it has calmed down at the stores.
Sorry for the typos as typing on tablet with my gloves on. It is a balmy -19 Celsius here. :-0
I have the maple leaf charm which is lovely. Wish I had the Canadian flag charm. I saw a while back a Rideau canal dangle charm for Ottawa. Would have loved that one as well as the new J’adore QC. Canada is a beautiful country. Hopefully I will travel there again one day.
I can help you with the Ottawa charm if you’re interested. Find me on Instagram @AFewCharms
I would love to go there myself! I went once when I was very little, but of course don’t remember anything about it. Once I get over my fear of flying (and I hope I do!) I have a lovely bucket list of places I would like to go some day.
Probably they’re not on the Canada e-store because the Canada e-store ships from the US, and these charms aren’t in the US. I think Canada has rarely had exclusives, but don’t quote me on that because I don’t buy Canada beads, so I wouldn’t keep them in mind. We have province exclusives in-store at holiday destinations, I guess like the US has state exclusives. Like if you visit Whistler, BC, you can buy the Whistler glass, or whatever they have now.
Ah, what a good point about the eStore. That makes a lot of sense, although it’s a shame for Canadians.
I was reminded of this today when I was messaging with a Trollbeads retailer about some retired glass on her website. When we had Pandora retailers that sold online, they had region specific charms. It’s too bad we lost them when the e-store opened. We have nothing online now but the Pandora e-store from out of our country.
I just clicked on the Pandora Vacation and Travel theme page, and got 9 charms, one is Lion Dance, three are those hideous tropical buttons. The travel theme should have all those regional charms.
The US e-store in Vacation and Travel has dangles for the Eiffel Tower, New York, Puerto Rico, Statue of Liberty, Dallas, Bahamas, Land of the Free, Land That I Love, Stars and Stripes.
I rest my case. Lol.
Oh, and the US list of online retailers goes on forever.
Tragic customer service.
Hi :) thanks to you Ellie I joined the Pandora’s tribe group on Facebook and have a whole Canada theme bracelet!! There are soooo many exclusive Canada charms now!! I would say at least 10-15 and id love to show everyone so they can see! It is awesome!! Is there a way to show people that on here?
I’d love to see your collection! If you send me a message to the Mora Pandora FB page, I can post your photos in the comments for you for people to see when I get home from work this evening :) unfortunately people can’t upload pics to the comments directly!
I love to see your canadian theme bracelet, Ally. I believe it look awesome.
Ally, I would love to see your Canada themed bracelet. I might start a Canadian bracelet now that I know that there are enough country exclusive charms to complete one. Next time I travel to different provinces, I will check out the local gift and Pandora stores.
This is Ally’s amazing Canada bracelet!
I love your bracelet, Ally! I also have the Canada 150 charm, the Canadian flag dangle and the maple leaf charm Some of the other ones I have not seen, but now that I know that only select stores get certain country exclusive charms, I will be on the hunt when I travel. I picked up an exclusive provincial charm in Prince Edward Island this summer and another exclusive charm in Niagara Falls recently. I’m going to put them all on one bracelet now.
Stunning!
Ally,
Love your bracelet! Well done! I lived in Toronto for five years, a long time ago when my husband was in grad school. The CN tower heart dangle would be a perfect momento of that time. Do you remember which location you purchased this charm or if they had the same image on a button charm? I would have to wait until I or someone I know makes a trip there, for now it will go on my wish list.
Cheers!
Lisa K
Hi Lisa! I got it from the Pandora’s tribe group on instagram. I have had 3 girls purchase Canadian charms for me and mail them to me! I can give you the information about where the girl got it and who it was if you want to message me on Facebook – my name is Ally Hynes and I have no photo or much of a profile up but I know who to direct you to to get the charms :) send me a message and I’ll let you know :)
I love the CN heart shape charm with the CN Tower. I would love to have one after visiting it with my husband who now has dementia. Lots of great memories. Could someone help me find one?
This was such a great article, I loved it.
Ally, your bracelet is beautiful! Nicely, balanced with beads, dangles and colours. I haven’t seen many of these charms since different province.
Ally, your bracelet is beautiful!! I am looking for the Canada dangle charm next to the black “I ❤ Canada” murano…. would you happen to have the code for that? Where did you find this beautiful piece?
And thinking too, looking at these again, I think the region specific items won’t have wide Canada appeal. For instance, few in the West <3 Quebec, :-D and fewer still want an Ontario emblem. Our population isn't huge, the Pandora customer share of that population is small, and I think sales of these won't even chart. No point in Pandora spending money to push these or offer them widely.
I do like the Phoenix, but not as a button.
I can understand it more with the region specific ones – the US ones don’t get stock images either (although I find that frustrating, too). I think the CNY beads are worthy of stock imagery, however. Plus, it is doable – we have stock images for our regional exclusives here in the UK. There’s an I love Liverpool charm etc.
https://uk.pandora.net/en/charms/love-liverpool-pendant-charm/ENG792017CZ-7.html?rrec=true
I like that, great for football fans. Pandora should do football clubs. Thomas Sabo does only Bayern Munich, which is my husband’s team, so I have one of those.
Glad I am not the only one that wonders? Asia New Year for Asia ok, but you can get some in Australia, now Canada, some USA, whatS WRONG WITH EUROPE!! I can not understand the ethos. Do they not want to make money, do they not want their collectors to the real thing?? seems to me someone needs to speak to this company’s sales director. OK release at the time in original area, then world wide. Seems to me the harder they make it for collectors the easier they are making it for the fakers to con their loyal fans.for a short period oftime yes they can charge more and make more profit and that what they are in bussiness for, but these items are a long term loss and it will take 5 generasions befor they will get a reasonable resale value so no investment for collectors as most have a 1/4 value as resale as soon a purchased, can not work this out.
Any one have the answer, apart from making pandora pen pals around the world as part of an exchange net work. so many upset about new year collection not being here in the UK. I feel we all miss out them and us. sorry for the rant. I vote for ellie as distribution director ha ha. she knows what we want.
I second your request. Ellie for President, lol!.
Now seriously, personally I don´t feel attracted to asian beads but I´d like to have acces to other exclusives, like the “so many reasons to be happy” dangle. Or other discontinued charms that may be still available in other country, so why doesn´t Pandora ship internationally or let retailers do it?
Yes, some more leeway on regional exclusives would be good, as fun as exchanging charms with other collectors abroad is. :)
Aw, I am sorry to hear that you’re disappointed. I think these charms were commissioned by Pandora Canada and are not part of the global Pandora strategy – the engraved charms are thought up on a more regional level, as far as I’m aware. But I get your frustration. They’re cute designs that definitely have an appeal beyond Canada!
Haha, I would gladly take up that challenge! It would be fun to advise Pandora on what ‘the people’ want lol. :P
For Canadians who want to purchase the maple leaf $50 or the flag $55 charms they can purchase them at the Canadian Pandora online site http://www.ca.pandora.net. I have also seen some additional exclusive Canada and Toronto charms in both dangle and regular button styles at the Pandora Outlet store in Cookstown, Ontario. I just purchased the flag charm there and it is as nice as it shows in the photo.
Sorry it’s actually, https://ca.pandora.net
Thanks Ingrid! <3
I just found out that the Canadian Olympic Red Mitten and the Ontario Trilium dangle charms are sold as gift sets with two spacers at select Pandora retail stores. I was able to track one down at the Toronto Eaton Center store. My daughter lives there and can pick it up for me.
What are the chances that these charms become available elsewhere later on (like the U.S)? I would love to purchase quite a few of them.
Slim, I’d have thought. These regional engraved beads tend to stay in the region that originally commissioned them – I’ve not seen any jump across regions yet. :(
Hi, can I ask about the link to ebay? Are there the real (original) charms from this seller? I would like to order, but I don’t want to be cheated… Thanks. :)
Hi Soren! Yes, Deb sells authentic Pandora and is a collector herself. I have a couple of charms from her!
I really Love these charms. I would like to make a Canadian theme bracelet after touring there.
How Can I obtain these wonderful charms if I don’t do Facebook?
Thank you very much
Hi Cheryl! I bought mine via Deb (I linked her eBay store at the beginning of the article). She sells genuine product, and is very knowledgeable about her Pandora. Otherwise, without Facebook, I think you’ll struggle. Have you ever thought about signing up to Facebook? It is such a usual resource for this kind of thing!
Hi Ellie,
Truly appreciate your taking the time to do a Canadian exclusive Charm post! I have few of the moments dangles. St. John’s NL, Quebec City & the two versions of the Canada 150 charms but I stopped buying the moments dangles because I feel I have too many. I do like the buttons charms, particularly the Heart with the lighthouse. I am from the East Coast so it resonates for me. I think the Quebec Fleur de list is my next favorite, the enamel work is lovely. The CNY button charms are well done. Sadly they will be hard to get as Pandora stores won’t ship to other parts of Canada. We are a geographically huge country with a small population so I get why these aren’t available on the e-store.
I will check out my local shop in shop to see what they have or if they can get get any of the other charms. It is Canada 150 Anniversary and I have a red & white theme bracelet. I would love to add some of the charms from provinces I have lived in.
Ellie, thanks for taking the time to create this post.
Cheers
Lisa K
Hi Lisa, it was my pleasure! A really fun post to write. I know what you mean about Moments dangles. I have two, and another coming to me (I ordered the new Lucky Charm dangle), but will hold off on more for the minute I think.
I hope you manage to track down the exclusives that you are after! It’s a shame that they are so hard to get hold of. Fingers crossed! Thanks for commenting :)
I coincidentally saw the lotus charms in my local store around the time of the Boxing Day or Black Friday sale (can’t remember which) and remembering doing a double take from surprise! I knew they had to be authentic since they were in a physical Pandora store but I thought it was odd that I hadn’t come across them in your blog. You’ve come to be the authority on new releases to me so if they don’t come up on your blog they don’t exist for me haha! Now, I don’t think I’d actually buy the lotus ones just because I have so many other charms on my immediate and near future wishlists, but the dragon and phoenix one is admittedly very neat! We’ll see :)
Haha, thank you – you are so lovely and sweet to say so! I think the lotus beads are just gorgeous and would be very tempted to get them myself – they are some of the nicer engraved beads Pandora have done so far. I am meant to be saving up for spring, but I keep falling off the wagon at the moment! I hope you have better luck resisting haha.
Thanks Ellie for making this special page for Canadians charms.
I have seen some beautiful charms in Ottawa: a red murano written “Ottawa” in white and also a dangle with a Winter scene of skaters on the Rideau Canal.
I do have the maple leaf on my Xmas bracelet. For a Spring/Summer bracelet, the white trillium dangle would be perfect since I was born and live in Ontario. It is a beautiful flower which grows in woodlands in Springtime. I do like the
the Inuksuk and Totem pole but I dont have space for these.
The Happy Together button looks nice but I would have preferred a dangle to add to my Tai Chi theme bracelet. My Chinese sign is a dragon but my OH chinese sign is a dog. ??
You are welcome, I really enjoyed writing this! <3 Oh, the skating one sounds cool. I’d like to see that one! The Trillium was my favourite of these, as well. I have ordered one and am planning where to put it. ^^
I think the Happy Together is a great charm. I would have preferred that design on one of the silver hearts without the pave, but it still works well as it is.
By Elena Rivera MacGregor
As published by the Vancouver Sun, February 2010.
“The Inukhsuk (pronounced ih-nook-suuk) mirrors this Canadian spirit of friendship and community. There are many kinds of Inuksuit (plural for Inukshuk), and they mean different things depending on how and where they are built. Traditionally, they were used by the Inuit in the north as directional markers. An Inukshuk in the shape of a person signifies safety, hope and friendship. These stone sculptures were also important for navigation, as a point of reference, as a marker for hunting grounds, or to denote a food cache. They were visible in snowy conditions, can endure extreme weather and, ultimately, can help people survive.”
“Inuksuit have been transformed into a symbol of hope and friendship that transcends borders to reach people all over the world. Inuksuit have become a universal symbol of friendship, and this is why we named our entry “Ilanaaq” (ee-la-nak) — “friend” in Inuktitut — and it became the basis for the 2010 Winter Olympics logo.”
Thank you Rachelle. It’s a great piece of information for those of us who live far away. I love learning new things about other countries. Thanks to Ellie for putting up this post and to you for adding this. I’m a bit more educated now ??
Thanks for the post on the Canadian exclusive engraved charms (and thanks to tiedyedeb for the images). It’s always interesting to see additional charms outside the catalog and it was interesting to read the background information you took the time to look up.
You’re welcome, Judy! It was a really fun post to do. :) The one good thing about being embargoed by Pandora is that it has prompted me to do some more off-the-beaten-track posts while we sort everything out.
Does anyone know if there will be a U.S. sale any time soon?
I have not, but wouldn’t have thought there’d be another until the summer.