Pandora Shine

[Trundle13]

Decided a year or so ago as part of a general decluttering/“buy less, buy better” drive that I wasn’t going to buy any more cheapy costume jewellery, only “proper” gold/silver etc.

Now my head has been turned by one of the new gold-plated Pandora Shine bracelets - are they worth the money or vastly overpriced? Is gold-plated sterling silver any good? Does it count as “proper jewellery” as per the criteria in my first paragraph?!

(I know that Pandora is a subject that divides MN opinion - and indeed my own opinion, I have one of the old-style sterling silver bracelets with charms people have bought me which I keep mainly for sentimental reasons - haven’t worn it for years, not my style any more - and then one of their leather wrap bracelets with a single charm on which I bought secondhand and wear almost everyday!)

It is vastly overpriced. Gold plating will wear through and eventually just be silver.

It's not 'proper' gold. Just stupidly expensive silver.

If it's the sliding bracelets with the toggle fastener I have seen very very similar ones in independent jewellers for no more than £70 with gold or rose gold plate on silver.

Always shop around. Don't get sucked in by branding. That way you'll have more £££ for better pieces.

Thanks troll - is that true of all gold-plated silver? Looking at an Alex Monroe piece as an alternative.

It’s the bee theme that’s got me! I can’t find anything similar to the “honeybee” bracelet anywhere!

Yup. If you get gold plated silver on a pendant it's less likely to wear as quickly because of the minimal contact with your skin.

Bracelets/bangles make a lot of contact with skin and clattering off of things so tend to lose plating quicker.

Plated rings you're not likely to get long out of at all.

Vermeil is just another word for plating.

Plated jewellery is fine imho so long as you're not paying through the nose for it and you're not planning on wearing it as an everyday piece.

Re: the honeybee bracelet- give it a year and all the chinese and mexican silver factories will be replicating it.

Thanks troll that’s all v helpful! You sound pretty well-informed on this, any brands you’d recommend for a gold/gold-plated bracelet around the £150 mark?

If you like the honeycomb look I would strongly recommend having a look here

billskinnerstudio.com/collections/bee-honeycomb

I've been in the trade a long time and do repairs- I spend a long time every day explaining to people why their repair will cost £xxxx because it has to be replated and they flip because they maybe didn't realise at the time.

The thing with finding a bargain is that they don't tend to be branded. A lot of the wholesale jewellers distribute their goods and are put under the shops own branding. As such it's impossible for a customer to go online and check " ShinyName bracelet" and go online and buy it on amazon or similar. A lot of shops give the jewellery its own name which only applies to their shop. (Have also seen a well known Scottish designer who makes a big deal over designing his own jewellery- yet buys bulk from a big mexican wholesaler.)

If you're wanting to build up a good jewellery collection, these shops are your mecca. For fashion jewellery in the pandora style which will date and thus has a limited shelf life- you don't want to pay that price for it.
Keep an eye out for jewellery workshops- often they have a retail and commission end but they tend to be full of the best bits.

And don't get suckered into thinking "if it is expensive it must be good". Sometimes you absolutely can get a bargain- especially with sterling silver jewellery or 2nd hand precious gems.

Goldmonday wow thank you, I have been trying to find that honeycomb look via Google and getting nowhere! And Bill’s pieces seem much more reasonably priced for gold plate as per troll’s advice. Thank you both!