Today’s post brings another Pandora Autumn 2015 review, with some close-up shots and styling inspiration for the beautiful Majestic Swan charm! This is one of the collection’s signature pieces, and has featured prominently in Pandora’s advertising. It’s not surprising, as it is notable for its elegant style and statement pavé detailing.
The Pandora free charm event has just been and gone, and I’m sure some of you will have chosen this bead as part of your purchases! What follows is a closer look at the charm itself, and ideas as to the different bracelets and charms with which you might like to style it. ^^
The charm
The lines of the Swan’s neck are slimmer than the stock image suggests, and make a nice complement to the full and beautiful detailing of the bird’s wings. Its weight is pretty evenly balanced, so it doesn’t flip like the equally lovely Forest Fairy charm.
Pandora have done a couple of swan designs before, but nothing so elegant or refined in tone. The Ugly Duckling has lots of beautiful shading but is quite heavy and cartoon-like in its details (which is not a bad thing at all, I love my Duckling!), while the Swan Embrace is more on the cute side.
The Majestic Swan, on the other hand, rather lives up to its name and offers something a little different! A few people have compared it to the Swarovski logo, and it is a little like it, haha.
However, for me, the Swan’s pose has rather a lovely feel of serenity and tranquillity – the stillness of the lake. I’m sure this charm would have worked really well as a plain silver design, with some oxidised details delineating the wings instead of the cubic zirconia, but the sparkle does add that extra touch of majesty.
The other thing that I really love about this charm is that, despite it’s pavé detailing, it has a threaded core! Often Pandora’s pavé charms are unthreaded (such as the Spring 2015 Graduate Owl), but this Swan offers a pavé design that also feels nicely substantial.
The detailing on the top of the charm is one of my favourite aspects, just where the wings come together. This charm isn’t full of the little cute details that you might see in other Pandora animal charms, which are often notable for their claws or pawprints, but every part of it is elegant.
Styling
My first styling idea is based on a wintry ballet design I created last year, mixing delicate pavé charms (such as the Ballerina and the Swan) with some classic fairy-tale silver pieces, such as the Fairy-Tale Book. I just thought how beautiful this charm would be for a Swan Lake ballet-themed bracelet!
I like the contrast between the delicate white muranos and the darker oxidised chain – it makes the whole look a tad more contemporary and really sets off the glittering charms as well. You can just spot the new Asian-exclusive starry safety chain in the background too!
If you want to up the sparkle a little bit too, this lovely Swan charm would be a good one to pair with the new Pandora pavé clasp bracelet, pictured below. I probably would never invest in the amount of pavé charms needed to make this sparkly bracelet, but I do quite like it!
My next styling returns to the idea of nature, with a purple leather design featuring the Blue Butterfly Kisses murano as a centre piece, and the newly-retired lapis lazuli Birthday Bloom. I’m actually planning on putting the new Dragonfly Meadow where the Swan is now, but the Swan works just as well!
The Swan is something of a statement piece, and more than capable of carrying a simple bracelet design – here I’ve simply added the Swan and two Cherry Blossom clips to the retired charcoal leather bracelet. I love the softness of pink enamel combined with a little hint of delicate clear pavé.
(You can really see what I mean about the lines of the Swan’s head and neck being quite slim and stylised in this next picture, too!)
Finally, this is how I will be wearing my Swan – on my Pandora Rose bracelet. I already added the Forest Fairy from the Autumn 2015 collection to this design, and both pieces go really nicely with the Spring 2015 florals, and other nature-themed beads. This design is almost finished; it just needs a Pandora Rose Sparkling Butterfly to fill in the last gap. I would love a Pandora Rose safety chain to finish it off as well, so my fingers are crossed that Pandora release one soon! ^^
Conclusion
I don’t really have anything bad to say about this charm – it is not the most original design or concept, but it is beautifully executed and made writing this review very easy! I liked this piece from the very first stock images, but it takes seeing it in person to really appreciate how pretty the details are, I think. It’s a little pricier, but it will work pretty much as you want it to, whether that is as a centre piece or as part of a larger bracelet design.
The Majestic Swan is $75 USD or £50. If you’re in the UK, you can purchase it alongside the rest of the Pandora Autumn collection from authorised retailer John Greed.
Have you bought this charm, or is it on your wish list? ^^ How does it compare to the rest of the Autumn collection?
Ten articles before and after
Promotion Alert: Pandora North America 3-for-2 ring promotion now on! | CHURINGA JEWELRY
Preview: Pandora Disney Limited Edition Charms 2015 | CHURINGA JEWELRY
Review: Fascinating Blush from Pandora Autumn 2015 | CHURINGA JEWELRY
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Review: Pandora Essence Autumn 2015 charms | CHURINGA JEWELRY
Preview: Pandora Christmas Ornament Promotion 2015 | CHURINGA JEWELRY
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