I've had a Pandora bracelet for years but never really thought much about the process of styling it. I was given charms as gifts and didn't consider how they would look gathered on the traditional silver-clasp band. I purchased clips much later and as a result of having no proper balance or weight distribution, a too-large bracelet to begin with (also a gift), and subsequent weight loss, the look and fit of my Pandora was not at all pleasing.
When my hubby gave me a Disney Pandora bracelet for my last birthday, which did fit properly, the first thing I did was invest in clips. These often ignored, but very important little additions, corral charms in the three sections of the bracelet. I chose to wear this gorgeous Disney bracelet often and realized my old one was very stretched, too loose, and unwearable. Not wanting to 'waste' all my old charms I recently took advantage of a savings promotion and got myself a much smaller 'regular' bracelet.
This investment re-sparked my interest in all things Pandora and of course, I started to learn more about the correct way to assemble, clean, and store these beautiful pieces of jewelry. While many charms are affordable, once you start putting the whole thing together and collecting charms (mostly as presents), you realize that there is a significant investment on that wrist!
All the information you need about the care of your Pandora products can be found in their catalogues and on-line. I learned that clips should be an early purchase to avoid that over-stretching I encountered. These types of snake chain bracelets will expand over time so you want to make sure they are a good fit right from the start. Safety chains are also available to protect your investment from loss in the unlikely event that the clasp comes undone. I wish I would have learned all these (and more) tips when I received my first bracelet but now that I do, I'm taking care of the ones I have.
I picked this great, semi-customizable jewelry box brand from Solutions to store my bracelets and charms. I purchased the 18 compartment tray for charm sorting and the 5 compartment for the bracelets themselves, the cleaning cloths, bags, and opener (plus other accessories). The trays are tarnish resistant and stack and slide with each other. There are many different sizes available and they are not expensive. I would love to have one of the Pandora jewelry cases but they don't sell those any longer. For now, this will do just fine. There is no lid or case for these trays (other than a dust cover) so I went around the store looking for a basket or container to set the stack into. I found this super fabric storage box that is ideal. I actually already have a giant one from long ago for my purses so I selected a matching one. The brand is in Germany and when I visited their website I realized I also had their shopping basket, also from years ago. I love the quality of the product and that they are very sturdy. The same can be said for the storage boxes which have a metal interior frame, strong handles, and a firm bottom. My jewelry trays fit perfectly inside, with extra room on the side for my Pandora gift boxes and catalogues. There is also room to stack more trays (height-wise) so there's room to grow! I also picked up an inexpensive velvet lined tray to plan out my bracelets. It is not tarnish resistant so it is purely for a place to keep the charms together while I hum and hah about design.
In addition to the Pandora website there are, I have discovered to my wallet's dismay, a zillion devotees of Pandora jewelry on social media. Instagram is jammed with photos of beautifully styled Pandoras and there are many YouTube videos of stunning collections of charms and bracelets. The quantity of pieces these fans have is dizzying and rivals the showcases of the actual Pandora stores themselves. It's certainly easy to style a bracelet to match any outfit, theme, holiday, or mood when you have a selection like those!
You can read about caring for your Pandora bracelet on their website HERE, find out more about the Germany basket and box company Reisenthel HERE, and see the Jewelry Stax system from Neatnix, available from Solutions in Canada, HERE.