As they say accessories make a girl a woman. I'm not much of an accessories kinda girl but if there is one item I've always eyed on is owning a charm bracelet. Over the past couple of years, charm bracelets have become huge and trending all over the world with several brands. But the brands that pop into your head when you mention charm bracelets would most probably Pandora, Trollbeads or Thomas Sabo.
The Origin
Lise Aagaard, the founder of Trollbeads, went on to open her own jewelry store. One day a customer asked to place more than one bead on her bracelet. The storekeeper was surprised but added another bead to the customer’s bracelet. This is how the bead-on-bracelet jewelry concept was born.
Trollbeads is an exquisite set of interchangeable jewellery pieces which let you create your own look. At the heart of the collection are the beads themselves. Each piece in the Trollbeads collection has its own little history, taking its inspiration from mythology, astrology, fairy tales, fauna, flora, cultural diversity, and last but certainly not least, in the familiar things of everyday living.
Trollbeads jewellery includes beads, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and rings. The jewellery has a wide range of collections that let you tell your own story through the beads and accessories.
Battle of The Charms
Pandora has a unique method for attaching the charms to their bracelet where you have to screw on the charm with the little treads cleverly placed. This means that you are kinda stuck with only having Pandora charms as other charms without the thread can get stuck on the bracelet. Meanwhile Trollbeads have openly said that you can mix charms from any brands as it will slide on due to the flexible nature of it. This allows you to collect your preferred charm and customize your charm bracelet with charms from any brand. Meanwhile Thomas Sabo is an example of a modern day charm bracelet where they dangle from a chain instead of the actual charm.
Thomas Sabo is known for their sterling silver pieces whose designs range from modern & pop culture-inspired to elegant & classic. They have a slightly more modern feel as well with emphasis on silver pieces.
Trollbeads on the other hand, I would call it more rustic and classic. You get this rough cut but exquisite design that is like no other. Their materials range from sterling silver, gold, copper and leather. Each bead is handcrafted especially the glass beads which means there is no two beads alike. The more beads you put together, the more it grows on you.
Design
Design wise, all three brands have their own characteristic to it. Pandora charms are more polished with cute silver charms and glass charms with little birds, polka dots and love hearts while Trollbeads has a more rustic feel to it. Their designs are mostly inspired by the supernatural and nature such as fairies, mermaids, trees, galaxies and shells you might find on the beach.
Price-wise, you can choose to get a ready-made or a customized bracelet from the website or stores however there is one thing unique to Trollbeads which is the lock. Trollbeads has unique locks that the other two do not offer. You get to really customize every part of your bracelet to your liking.
Material and Production
Trollbeads are made of the highest quality raw materials, and have evolved from the beginning to be only in sterling silver to now include 18 karat gold, freshwater pearls and gemstones - and last but certainly not least the beautiful and fantastic glass beads made from Italian glass. The gold and silver Trollbeads are modelled using the so called 'cire perdu' or 'lost wax' method. This 3,000 year old technique allows for fine details to be reproduced from wax to precious metals. While glass Trollbeads all are hand made from red-hot glass in the open flame.
Trollbeads are produced all over the world; from Denmark and Germany to eastern Europe, USA, and China. We find business partners who have the best product knowledge and often find this in cultures where there is a tradition and understanding for the materials being used.
"Every Story Has A Bead"
The idea behind Trollbeads is that it is a bead-on-bracelet/-necklace/-earring product, where you can build your own story by adding the beads the way you want to. You can collect a bracelet entirely from beauty, diversity and colours that fit your clothes, personality or memories.
Create your very own Trollbeads piece that fits your style, memories and personalities with 3 simple steps:
1. Select a bracelet (Sterling silver/Gold/Leather)
2. Select your desired beads
3. Select a lock (unique to Trollbeads)
Share with me your thoughts and which brand won the battle for you.
Locations
Trollbeads Malaysia is available at MidValley, Sunway Pyramid and Vivacity Megamall, Kuching. They have been on the market for more than 40 over years, with over 50 countries around the world.
Til next time,
xoxo
Miriam
