Merry Christmas Eve everyone – today I’m getting in the festive mood with a review of the limited edition Pandora Black Friday charm for 2015! This is Pandora’s fifth North-American exclusive charm released in celebration of Black Friday, and it features a rather pretty pavé snow globe design.
This review is something of a Christmas miracle, haha, seeing as my Black Friday charm has been MIA in the post for a few weeks – however, it finally decided to show up on my doorstep on Christmas Eve! I was rather over-excited to finally receive this one and so I spent some time today putting together this review. Read on for some close-up shots and the usual styling inspiration!
The charm
The Wonderland charm is a lovely pavé snow globe design, set with clear pavé cubic zirconia. Cut-out into the charm are a pretty fir tree and a snowman silhouette. The overall effect is rather magical and Christmassy, but without being too cartoony like some of the other red enamel charms. The bottom of the globe is pearlescent enamel – which would match really beautifully with the new Abundance of Love pieces, too!
The charm’s design is quite sizeable, and it’s nicely sturdy to look at, but it’s actually quite light due to the pavé detailing. It’s an openwork charm, and slides on and off your bracelet without needing to be threaded on.
Those who read my original preview of this Black Friday charm will remember that, alongside this one, there were also images of a plain silver opalescent version of the charm. Unfortunately this charm has been revealed to be a prototype and will not see an official release. 🙁 It’s a shame, as I can just imagine how beautiful the opalescent crystals would have been – the shimmer would have been perfect to represent falling snow!
However, this version of the charm does have a rather gorgeous gold snowflake on the top. My ideal charm would probably be a combination of the two charms – the opalescent crystals with the gold snowflake on top! 😉
Black Friday charms traditionally have the date inscribed somewhere on them, and the date is nice and clear on the base of the charm.
This year’s Black Friday charm came with a slightly fancier box than usual! ^^ It’s square in shape, with a pretty pearlescent finish that matches the charm itself. I do love how Pandora NA manage to make all their limited edition releases feel extra special – the boxes themselves are very collectible.
Stylings
The clear pavé detailing is wonderfully versatile and there are any number of great combinations you could put together for this bead. The Christmassy design is not too overt either, and you can easily get away with wearing this one all year round.
Nevertheless, my first styling is a more elegant Christmas bangle design. I love the combination of white murano glass and yellow gold, and you don’t need many beads at all for it to look pulled together and lovely!
Another favourite combination of mine is purple and clear pavé – this is a great combination for rich wintry designs. A few white murano beads help to lighten the overall look, and add a little softness as well.
I’m not entirely sure how I will be wearing my Black Friday charm in the long-term, but for now I have added it to my midnight-themed bracelet! It looks great with the Disney Cinderella’s Pumpkin Coach charm, which features a similarly delicate mix of two-tone and clear pavé detailing.
Conclusion
While I am still regretful about the opalescent plain silver version of this charm, the two-tone version is very pretty in real life. The clear pavé still provides plenty of sparkle, and the gold snowflake adds a lot of richness. Nevertheless, it would be nice to see Pandora steer away from the pavé detailing next year, if only to do something a little different!
The limited edition Wonderland charm costs $75 USD or $85 CAD, and is exclusive to North America.
Did you decide to get this year’s Black Friday charm? If so, how are you wearing it?
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