Pandora bracelets... continued!!!

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#841
AMEN SISTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:urock::urock::goodpost::true:

givemegold said:
Here is my attempt at a polite rebuttal (this has been edited to omit the grouch!):

The appeal of Pandora bracelets, IMO, is that the wearer can become the designer of a personal piece of jewelry. This bracelet can be built all at once(and look amazing) or a little at a time (and look just as amazing), depending on the budget of the purchaser. This bracelet can be sentimental, fun, eclectic, or carefully planned to achieve a particular look.
I am drawn to Pandora because I can start with a small investment of $50 (US) and over time, create a bracelet worth much much more (monetarily and sentimentally.) For some, the spending of $25 for a bead may seem silly, but for the cost of a cocktail, a movie ticket, or any other one-time-experience, I get a bead the commemorates a moment, vacation, or smile for me.
Rather than purchase jewelry I won't wear or forget about, I choose to buy Pandora. Instead of subjecting my family to the "horrors" of finding me the perfect gift, I direct them toward beads for my bracelet and my family thanks me for this over and over, as I thank them for their generosity.
We all know that the mark-up on retail jewelry is huge, yet we enjoy it anyway. I have made it my own Pandora Mission to find ways to get my beads at a lower cost, whether I use Ebay, private sellers, or Pandora promotions.
I don't consider Pandora an expensive collection because the purchaser can choose how much to spend at one time and still add to their bracelet to make it new again! If I were to buy an entire bracelet at one time, it would be a huge investment, but a bead here and there, every one in a while, works for me!
I suppose I could have worse vices...alcoholism and tobacco usage come to mind, but I choose to buy an occasional Pandora bead for my bracelet.
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#842
Hi Slayer I went into the Pandora shop today and they told me they come in 3 sizes:
17.5cm, 19.5cm and 21.5cm
The $118 is for the bracelet and the charm - apparently they come together for that price.
 
#844
lolas said:
It is the same as high end bags....you pay for the design, quality & obviously the name,or designer. If you frequent these boards then Im sure you get it.

As to the most obvious reasons people enjoy Pandora I couldnt have said it better than Givemegold & Dalmunchkin.
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I didn't mean to offend anyone. We all have different tastes. With high end bags, you are buying exclusivity (I don't buy extremely expensive bags, and I look for sales on the ones I do buy.) So, I get the idea of buying a high end bag because everyone isn't going to have one. Pandora bracelets, apparently, are quite common, so you are not paying for exclusivity. That said, I get the idea of selecting charms that are meaningful and enjoying the variety of what's avilable.

I think my main problem with Pandoras is that we are in the business of buying unwanted gold and silver jewelry, and we get a lot of the old dangly silver charm bracelets to be scrapped. A number of years ago, they were all the rage, like Pandoras are now. Today, however, no one's kids want Mom's old charm bracelet, and Mom hasn't worn it in years, so it ends up getting scrapped for five or ten dollars. It's kind of sad because a lot of those charms are very cute. I save out some of the more novel ones just for fun. I don't think the old style charms were terribly expensive in their day, so it probably was a fun and relatively inexpensive pursuit to collect charms and make a charm bracelet. If the Pandora charms weren't so outrageously expensive, I'm sure I would like them a lot more.
 
#845
I completely agree with all the comments above about why Pandora is worth the money and that is also exactly what I told customers while selling them too. Another reason why Pandora charms are so expensive is because they are all individually handcrafted, which means that although there are beads that are the same design, they are not identical, therefore each individual bead is unique. Furthermore, you are not only paying for the material, you are also paying for the craftsmenship, it is not an easy job creating such detailed charms out of such a small piece of silver/gold by hand.
 
#846
Miss Understood said:
I didn't mean to offend anyone. We all have different tastes. With high end bags, you are buying exclusivity (I don't buy extremely expensive bags, and I look for sales on the ones I do buy.) So, I get the idea of buying a high end bag because everyone isn't going to have one. Pandora bracelets, apparently, are quite common, so you are not paying for exclusivity. That said, I get the idea of selecting charms that are meaningful and enjoying the variety of what's avilable.

I think my main problem with Pandoras is that we are in the business of buying unwanted gold and silver jewelry, and we get a lot of the old dangly silver charm bracelets to be scrapped. A number of years ago, they were all the rage, like Pandoras are now. Today, however, no one's kids want Mom's old charm bracelet, and Mom hasn't worn it in years, so it ends up getting scrapped for five or ten dollars. It's kind of sad because a lot of those charms are very cute. I save out some of the more novel ones just for fun. I don't think the old style charms were terribly expensive in their day, so it probably was a fun and relatively inexpensive pursuit to collect charms and make a charm bracelet. If the Pandora charms weren't so outrageously expensive, I'm sure I would like them a lot more.
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I'm curious - why would you go on a forum for people who love and collect Pandora, and try to convince people that they are a waste of money? I'm just wondering. People are certainly entitled to their opinions and I know plenty of people who think Pandora is too expensive. In fact I know my husband thinks that it's way overpriced but he continues to buy it for me because it makes me happy! Life is too short not to do things that make you happy. Our 401k's and our kids' college funds are for investment; my jewelry is for enjoyment. As for me, if my mom or grandmother had an "old charm bracelet" I would love to have it b/c it would remind me of them. People also trade in or pawn lots of expensive items because they would rather have the cash but that doesn't make them worthless. Just my humble opinion.
 
#847
dalmunchkin said:
I'm curious - why would you go on a forum for people who love and collect Pandora, and try to convince people that they are a waste of money? I'm just wondering. People are certainly entitled to their opinions and I know plenty of people who think Pandora is too expensive.
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I am not trying to convince people they are a waste of money, or that you shouldn't buy them if you really enjoy this jewelry. I just discovered Pandora's recently, and asked you collectors what the appeal was, since I was surprised after seeing the price of the charms that they are so popular. I didn't realize that they were handcrafted. I just learned that from you folks today. That helps explain the cost and makes me see why other people would find them more appealing than the old style charms that were probably mass produced.

dalmunchkin said:
People also trade in or pawn lots of expensive items because they would rather have the cash but that doesn't make them worthless. Just my humble opinion.
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Agreed. Selling an item you no longer want does not mean that the item is undesireable, let alone worthless, and that very point figured into my surprise at the cost of Pandora items. Lots of people scrapping their old gold jewelry bought years ago are getting as much or more than they paid for it, which isn't likely to happen with silver.

Naturally not everything can be valued by its price or what it will or will not be worth ten years from now. If people love and enjoy creating unique Pandora creations, then it's worth the expense to them. No doubt I enjoy things that have little value to someone else.
 
#848
My my I go away for a couple of days and my nice peaceful thread gets DRAMA!!!! We on this entire forum love our "things" be they pets, clothes, purses, jewelry...whatever and make no excuses for what we pay for them or why we even like them. Anyone who doesn't feel the same passion may leave!!!
 
#850
Kandi said:
My my I go away for a couple of days and my nice peaceful thread gets DRAMA!!!! We on this entire forum love our "things" be they pets, clothes, purses, jewelry...whatever and make no excuses for what we pay for them or why we even like them. Anyone who doesn't feel the same passion may leave!!!
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Yes, that's another way to put it! Thanks Kandi.:D
 
#851
Wow, I didn't know that asking what you find so appealing about this style of jewelry would strike such a nerve. I thought I was being respectful and polite. I shall leave you to enjoy your thread now. My apologies for intruding.
 
#852
I wanted to say thanks to Nelly for posting the link to all the pictures so quickly! Much appreciated. Just a couple of months ago, I could not imagine how into bracelet porn I'd be.

I have a question about the safety chains.
Do they screw on like beads (rather than clip)? If so, and if the closure should come undone, would the chain unscrew, leaving the beads to unscrew and get lost? Or, is the idea that it won't come off your wrist because of the chain... I don't get it.

thanks for the help:smile1:
 
#853
:yahoo::yahoo::yahoo:

On a lighter note its payday and I went up to the jewellery shop at lunchtime as soon as I saw my pay was in and bought a new bead! I got the silver and gold bead I think its called the "oh my" bead with CZ stones in. Its fabbbb but I do feel like a bit of a Pandora junkie! Ive been stalking the shop all week.....this addiction is baddddd....I am sooooo tempted to blow all my spare cash all the time and just not go out for a month! I'm quite happy looking at my bracelet evolve! Thank god I am not the only one like this.:dothewave::dothewave:
 
#854
Congrats E!!! I can see how excited you are. I have a few beads on my wishlist too. I love Pandora! It is very addicting too.

I don't know what the "oh my" bead is though. Can you post it?
 
#855
Erinbuffy said:
:yahoo::yahoo::yahoo:

On a lighter note its payday and I went up to the jewellery shop at lunchtime as soon as I saw my pay was in and bought a new bead! I got the silver and gold bead I think its called the "oh my" bead with CZ stones in. Its fabbbb but I do feel like a bit of a Pandora junkie! Ive been stalking the shop all week.....this addiction is baddddd....I am sooooo tempted to blow all my spare cash all the time and just not go out for a month! I'm quite happy looking at my bracelet evolve! Thank god I am not the only one like this.:dothewave::dothewave:
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I love that bead......have fun with it!!!!;)
 
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