The Beginning of a Costly Love Affair

I first got a glimpse of Pandora charms and bracelets in 2011 if I'm not wrong. At that time I was passing one of the many Habib Jewels branches (no designated Pandora outlet yet then) while window-shopping in Suria KLCC. I still remember how captivated I was at the Teddy bear charm arranged together with a few other charms and a blue Murano glass in the centre. That was insanely beautiful (quoting the phrase of the lovely Asha Gill of Lonely Planet Six Degrees) and thus began my love affair with Pandora.

My first Pandora - my first story is
my love for animals. The kitty
charm, second from top is birthday
present from Darling & Dear

First and foremost, what is a charm? When I was a kid a charm is something that people used to ward off evil, to bring good luck and to cure you from sickness. A charm was obtained from the shaman or pawang and depending on how good he or she was, the pawang could provide you with anything you want and overcome any problem you have whatsoever. Ranging fom warding off evil, to making you attractive to member of the opposite sex, to overcoming marital problems, to making your business thrive, to curing whatever ailments you have on the face of this earth, mentally or physically. The charm can be just some small scrap of paplers with something that looked weird and funny written on it and then sewn onto small cotton pouch and worn around the waist with a string. Later on, small aluminium containers with designs that looked Siamese (or was it Nepalese) were used instead of the cotton pouch and they were  worn around the waist or hung around the neck like a pendant.
A charm could also be a spell (verbal)  which is a sentence or phrase chanted or voiced out with the intention of bewitching the other person or persons. Somehow or other I do believe that the conviction people have on these charms, talismans, emulets and pawangs and bomohs have not really changed much. In the vicinity of the Commuter Train Station in Shah Alam, one can see a lot of advertisements about "perubatan cara halus dapatkan bayaran balik hutang" or "perubatan penyakit ganjil" or " perubatan jadikan anak bijak dan mendengar kata ibu bapa". I do try to keep an open mind about a lot of unexplained or paranormal phenomena. However I am not at all impressed with people professing expertise and simple solutions to every problem on the face of the earth, often at exorbitant prices. Ooops ....sorry, got a bit distracted, lets go back to charm bracelets.

Nowadays a charm bracelet is simply, charms and various trinkets worn on a bracelet. If anyone anyone is interested to have a short read about  charms here is the link http://www.thecharmworks.com/HistoryofCharms. Modern charm bracelets are stylish, can be customised to your own fancy and can be dressed up or dressed down.  The bracelets can be changed to compliment any style or outfit. A woman need never wear her bracelet the same way more than once. That is if you have many charms to mix and match of course. There are many manufacturers of charm bracelets around the world such as Pandora, Camilla, Trollbeads, Ohm's Bead, Tedora, Thomas Sabo, Lovelinks, etc. However in Malaysia only Pandora, Thomas Sabo and Lovelinks are available. Pandora is available in Malaysia in 2011 when it was brought in by the local jeweller Habib Jewels.

My leather bracelet Pandora

On the left is my leather bracelet Pandora. I have written about the two charms in the middle in one of my previous posts. They were presents from my close friends and my colleagues in CIAST which I love very dearly. The other two charms next to them are the very cute Miss Hedgehog charms. The last bead on left and right are clips to hold the other charms in place. PA said that this set matched me very well when I wear jeans and shirts. Actually nowadays I am always in jeans and shirts. I feel that irrespective of how old I am, I should dress comfortably, safely and I still love too be neat and presentable. Should I get another leather bracelet? Well, a retiree is supposed to be more careful with money and should not indulge oneself in mindless spending. Very frankly, the previous sentence is very often heard by my friends, however, I tend to become weak in the knees when new collection of Pandora comes out every season. Yes, I have a strong feeling that Per and Winnie Enevoldsen, the founders of Pandora company are very powerful Danish bomohs. May be I should go to one of the Malaysian bomohs to get rid of the Pandora spell. Then we shall know who is more powerful.

Will write more about charm bracelets, in the mean time, some info related to them are pasted below from various sources. My apology about the haphazard way my photos and copied texts are displayed, I am still doing things trial and error. Ain's blog is really gorgeous, lovely to read, well arranged and I just adore the colours in it.

         

My other set

What is Sterling Silver?

Sterling silver is a popular metal for jewelry, silverware and decorations. Sterling silver is an alloy of silver that consists of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% of other metal, usually copper. Fine silver (99.9% pure) typically is too soft for practical objects. Alloying with copper maintains the silvery color of the metal, while increasing its strength. However, the copper is much more susceptible to oxidation and corrosion, so sterling silver tarnishes more easily than fine silver.
Other metals that may be used in sterling silver include zinc, platinum and germanium. Silicon or boron may be added to improve the properties of the metal. Although these metals and additions may improve the resistance of the sterling silver to firescale and tarnish, most sterling silver is still made using copper.

The Pandora Mythology
In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman on earth. Zeus ordered Hephaestus, the god of craftsmanship, to create her and he did, using water and earth. The gods endowed her with many talents; Aphrodite gave her beauty, Apollo music,Hermes persuasion, and so forth. Hence her name: Pandora, "all-gifted".

When Prometheus stole fire from heaven, Zeus took vengeance by presenting Pandora to Epimetheus, Prometheus' brother. With her, Pandora had a jar which she was not to open under any circumstance. Impelled by her natural curiosity, Pandora opened the jar, and all evil contained escaped and spread over the earth. She hastened to close the lid, but the whole contents of the jar had escaped, except for one thing which lay at the bottom, and that was Hope

ABOUT PANDORA The COMPANY

PANDORA designs, manufactures and markets hand-finished and modern jewelry made from genuine materials at affordable prices. PANDORA jewelry is sold in more than 70 countries on six continents through approximately 10,300 points of sale, including approximately 950 concept stores.

Founded in 1982 and headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, PANDORA employs over 6,900 people worldwide of whom 4,900 are located in Gemopolis, Thailand, where the company manufactures its jewelry. PANDORA is publicly listed on the NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen stock exchange in Denmark. In 2012, PANDORA’s total revenue was DKK 6.7 billion (approximately EUR 900 million). For more information, please visitwww.pandoragroup.com

And here is a short history of the origin of the Pandora brand taken from Wiki

In 1982, Per and Winnie Enevoldsen opened a shop in the Nørrebrogade area of Copenhagen. When the demand for their products increased, the couple shifted their focus to the wholesale business. In 1984, the couple opened a production facility in Thailand, Pandora Productions, and hired designer Lone Frandsen to help create a jewelry line. In 1996, Pandora — strictly a wholesale dealer by then — hired its second designer, goldsmith Lisbeth Enø Lochte, who worked with Frandsen to create Pandora’s signature style and customizable charm bracelet.^[2] The private equity investment firm Axcelpurchased 60 & of the company in March 2006. That same year Pandora launched its first store in Hamburg, Germany, followed by locations in Australia, Denmark, Switzerland, Canada, United Kingdom and the United States. Pandora employs more than 2,500 people.^[2] The company was sold through an IPO on October 5, 2010.