Pandora bracelets.

[CarbyDeadUn]

I really want one. They are so pretty. Lots of different beads and things that can be added.
But are they a bit common?

I am torn.

[RoseWhiteTips]

Four fat babies? Sorry, that has got to be a thumbs down.

[CakesRUs]

Pandora bracelets are really going to date and be on a programme in 20 years time about what everyone was wearing this decade. They’re bordering on naff.

People have invested a lot of money in their bracelets too, they aren’t cheap for what they are.

There are plenty of naff things I really love, if it’s something you really want, life’s too short - go for it.

Jewellery should be worn, not saved for best. Think of how many times you’ll wear something if you save it for best.

[IroningMountain]

Literally just about nearly everybody I work with has one. I don't get having jewellery everybody else has. If I had a £400 bracelet I'd want it to stand out from the crowd and not look just like an overpriced security bracelet. They just make me think of chain restaurants like Pizza Express. I like to show individuality with jewellery.

[IroningMountain]

Sorry but you did ask op.

[tailspin]

They charge precious metal prices for things that aren’t precious metal, and you should always be wary of any jewellery company that does that - Pandora or others. Nothing to do with ‘common’.

[AgainPlease]

I honk they are a bit common, sorry.

I have a Tiffany & Co. charm bracelet which I love though.

[CherryChasingDotMuncher]

I’m genuinely struggling to see how putting thought into each charm you buy is ‘lazy’. We get one for MIL every birthday and Christmas, we pop along to the shop and the kids help us look at the charms and pick one out, and there’s always a reason (her last birthday DD picked a giraffe one for her as she knew it was her favourite animal). If she ever said that was lazy I’d be very pissed off. How much effort do people have expect their loved ones to put into gifts? Do you expect your mothers and husbands scale mountains to retrieve special stones to carve into a lovely ornament just for you?

And sneering at someone because they have charms representing their four babies? What a nob.

This snobbery around ‘mass produced’ stuff (not just Pandora) is annoying and quite ironic, as unless you make all your own clothes and jewellery I promise you there’s thousands of other women walking around wearing your ‘unique’ piece. DH has bought me charms for my kids being born, the “it’s a girl” and “it’s a boy” with a pink or blue stone. Yes lots of people have the same. No I don’t give a fuck or sit crying about how lazy he is or think I have no individuality. The gesture is what counted.

[BoredOnMatLeave]

I have a tiffany charm bracelet and I get a new charm every Christmas and birthday, it means a lot to me and I think it looks lovely and 100x nicer than a Pandora. (charms aren't tiffany btw just whatever anyone buys me). I don't think it will date as much as my MIL has a similar one she's had since she was my age.

[LaurieMarlow]

To champion Tiffany instead is a bit ironic. Tiffany are also mass produced and fairly generic, they just have better marketing than Pandora and a higher price point.

Anyway, pandora's not something I'm into, but for those who have the charms, they seems to have tremendous meaning for them. So it seems kinda obtuse and mean spirited to encourage them to swap them for something 'less crass' with 'more meaning'.

MN is not some kind of arbiter of taste. People like different things, leave the happy, content people well alone and enjoy your own etsy pieces.

[InspMorse]

Common as in 'everyone has them' or common as in 'tacky' ?
All I know is that they are really ugly bracelets! It must be my age but when I was young, charm bracelets were the height of BAD taste!
Women had nasty charm bracelets and men had even nastier sovereign rings

[longestlurkerever]

cherry totally agree mumsnet is odd about gifts in general. Getting offended about the level of "thought" that goes into a gift is just as crass as getting offended about the amount of money spent imo. Gifts are not the way to judge how much you're valued or loved. Sometimes the perfect gift for someone jumps out, sometimes I'm totally stumped. It has nothing to do with how much I have valued them that year.

[CherryChasingDotMuncher]

YY longest I don’t understand the frothiness on here over gifts and how people judge the range of thought that’s gone into it. Surely thinking “that’s a gift they’ll enjoy, because they like X Y and Z, so I’ll buy that” is enough?

Then again I’m delighted when people ask for money for a wedding present, saves hassle for me, but on MN it’s practically punishable by hanging. So I’m probably the weird one!

[IroningMountain]

They all look the same from afar and sorry but other jewellery isn't as commmon. I have never seen anything twice. You could buy a necklace from your local supermarket and be lucky to see it again on somebody else at a fraction of the price. You could get something pretty with beads and individuality in all sorts of places.Not so Pandora. I just don't get it but op you asked,I replied. If you still love them get one.

[FlouncyDoves]

You could always get a charm bracelet from an independent jewellers then add charms to it that way. I did that for my (now) wife and we add a charm for major life events (new Home, marriage, baby etc). It’s more unique than a Pandora (only available from a small jewellers in our home town) and has the added the bonus of being cheaper!

On the downside, we do have to go back to this shop when we want a new charm - we can’t just pop into a franchised Pandora shop in any big town.

[FlouncyDoves]

We also looked at Links of London, but you need a small mortgage to fill one of those with charms - the cheap ones at £40 a pop (or at least they were)

[Happydoingitjusttheonce]

I was gifted one as a thank you by a close friend and so I started to add charms out of obligation really. Each one does have significance but I never wear it now, I wasn’t a fan in the first place.

[LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726]

There's just no limit to the depths women will plummet to criticise another woman's treasured possession, is there? It's nauseating. Cao, do you get something out of doing that? You sound very, very unpleasant.

Tiffany isn't better, it's another brand. How would you feel if your bracelet that had such meaning to you, Bored and AgainPlease?

InspMorse, Height of bad taste? Who says so and why are you slavishly repeating it? Not so sure about age being to blame but it's not mannerly is it?

I don't have a horse in the race as I don't have any of these brands but I like some of the Pandora beads and like some of the others. Some I don't like but don't see the need to attach arbitrary and untrue qualifiers that they're 'common', in 'bad taste', whatever.

I agree with CherryChasing's posts.

[Fresta]

Just had a look at Etsy. Can't see how the quality is going to be better, most looks like amateur made craft stall stuff to me. Fine if that's your thing but not everyone likes a bohemian look. Something being unique doesn't make it better unless unique is your priority.

I'd rather buy a nice quality classy piece from a traditional jeweller. Goldsmiths or Beaverbrooks are good, or there will be many independent local jewellers in every town or city.

And what do people mean about Pandora charging precious metal prices for non precious metals? As far as I'm aware the beads and braceletsare all Sterling Silver or gold.

[WhataHexIgotinto]

God Pandora threads seem to bring out the worst in some people and same old tacky, vile blah blah blah words thrown out there. I've no idea why some are incapable of saying they don't like something without trying to sound superior.

OP of you like it, is doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.

[Floofd]

I think charm bracelets are lovely, and if you like the design of Pandora ones, why does it matter that they are stamped with that particular brand?

When I shop for myself, I generally buy from lesser known independant designers because I have unusual taste. However my mum bought me a Pandora charm bracelet and I've had many charms as gifts from her, my son, friends and colleagues. It doesn't necessarily mean they are thoughtless- I know the sentiment behind each charm I have been given, the fact that its Pandora doesnt take away from that for me.

I truly don't understand the snobbery around them.

[ThroughThickAndThin01]

I love my pandora bangle.

I filled it up with beads but it made it too small to fit 😀. So all the beads had to come off.

I just wear it as a bangle. I love it.

[LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726]

yy WhataHex but those posters would do the same whatever the subject because they're insecure and need to try to compete. It's quite sad really.

[Ktown]

They look a bit clunky but each to their own.
I was told (!) They have iffy associations due to their location in lower end shopping centres.
They are very expensive for what they are. Sterling silver isn’t normally that pricey.

[Rufustherenegadereindeer1]

floofd

Neither do i

I dont like them as they are too shiny but i do like the vast selection for those who do like them and the fact the the beads have a meaning for people

I have troll bead bracelets but they are the same thing...just less shiny

And as i say i do have a pandora Christmas bracelet that i started last year...as i love Christmas and their beads are the best Christmas ones.

[schoolgaterebel]

If you like something why would you care what anybody else thinks?