Today’s post brings a quick review of Pandora’s new two-tone bangle, which was released globally with the Winter 2014 collection. Pandora first released their all silver bangle in 2013; after it proved enormously popular, they followed it up with a two-tone version in the latter half of 2014. The bangle itself remains silver, but with a stunning 14kt gold clasp.
This will be my last Winter 2014 review before the release of the Valentine’s Day 2015 collection on the 15th of January, so I hope you enjoy it. ^^
I never thought I would own this lovely piece, but I was fortunate enough to receive one this Christmas! As it is potentially a rather big investment, I thought it was worth reviewing, and offering some ideas as to how to wear it. If you’re looking for some tips regarding the bangle in general, please take a look at my silver Pandora bangle review.
The bangle
The stock image really does not do this piece justice – the colour of the clasp is so much brighter and shinier in person. There is also a two-tone Moments bracelet, which looks beautiful with two-tone charms, but the contrast between the gold and the silver does work particularly well with the bangle. It is striking enough to be worn on its own, without any charms.
Often, when comparing gold versions of charms with their silver counterparts, the gold version proves to be smaller than the silver one. This is not true of the two-tone and silver bangles; the clasps are the same size. Gold does not oxidise, therefore the letters are much lighter on the two-tone bangle than the silver one. It looks so much shinier than my silver one, which is showing up the scratches a bit! ;)
Durability
With an precious piece like this, I’d be tempted to avoid filling it up with lots of charms – the bangle has a very shiny finish and it is very prone to scratching. :( Openwork charms are best, as they are not threaded and will therefore have less contact with the bangle itself. If you’re concerned, too, I wouldn’t advise stacking it with full Pandora bracelets. It’s a little ridiculous, as my full Pandora bracelets are technically worth more than this one, but it’s the most expensive single piece of jewellery I now own.
Clips won’t scratch your bracelet either if you use a silicone stopper (pictured right) or one of the clip inserts that Pandora provides (pictured left). If you fasten your clip over one of these on the bangle, they will hold the clip in place and stop it sliding around and scratching it. You can buy the black inserts from Pandora themselves, while the silicone stoppers are readily available on Amazon or eBay.
Styling
With a piece like this, I think simplicity is the prettiest way of wearing it. For example, it looks so striking when worn with one a single charm or clip, such as the white enamel Darling Daisy:
Even though the murano beads have threads, I couldn’t resist pairing the bangle with the delicate Cherry Blossom murano. They go beautifully together, and the lovely pinks of the murano really soften and bring out the prettiness of the gold clasp.
To stop the murano moving, you could always pop a couple of pretty clips with inserts either side.
Elegant two-tone pieces such as the Vintage Heart also look beautiful with the bangle – this picture is a snap of a design put together by my local store. As I said, simplicity works best for me with the Pandora bangle in general, and I love this look.
Warm honey tones also set off the gold clasp very nicely, as in this shot from the PANDORA magazine (I don’t have any yellow in my collection!).
However, if you want to soften the look a little and create something a little vintage-looking, I love a combination like this. I’ve added the Vintage Allure charm, with its delicate green spinel stone, and the white enamel Darling Daisy clip. The soft green and white look really pretty with the gold.
Finally, I also like to stack it! I don’t like wearing it with full Moments bracelets, as I’ve said; however, I am currently loving it in combination with my Essence bracelet – the Wisdom charm looks so beautiful with two-tone pieces! This is only a quick snap taken with instagram (and a dreadful phone camera), but you get the idea!
Conclusion
The two-tone bangle is a lovely piece; it is effortlessly elegant, and looks beautiful with so many of Pandora’s decorative pieces. I particularly like it with softer, delicate charms such as the blossom muranos or the Darling Daisy clip; although I’m sure it would look great worn with some dramatic, edgier designs too. I’d like to see what it looks like in combination with the delicate pink of the new heart murano coming out for Valentine’s Day, too.
It’s tempting to save it for special occasions, as the bangle is particularly prone to showing up wear, but I’m not really that kind of person and I’ve been enjoying wearing it over the past couple of weeks! I am, however, being careful with what charms go on it and what I wear it with; I want to enjoy wearing it, but it would be a shame if it looked scratched up very quickly.
The two-tone bangle is $325 in the US and £275 in the UK, where it is available from John Greed Jewellery along with the rest of their selection of Pandora.
Would you invest in a more expensive Pandora bracelet? How do you wear your two-tone pieces?
that’s a beautiful bracelet! I assume you bf gave it to you? If so he did well :)
I would love to have the bracelet but i personally wouldn’t buy it myself, as for that price, I would prefer jewellery with gemstones. However, if it was a gift, I would accept it happily and love it forever :)
Thank you! :D He did, he’s pretty much good for brownie points this year already haha.
I also would never have bought it for myself (even though I absolutely adore it) as I couldn’t justify that amount of money on it! So it was a lovely gift to receive :)
:-) You lucky lady! Beautiful bangle and I love the gold clasp! I
have the silver bangle that I hardly wear and if, then only with a very few charms, because I think its pretty just as it is. I wouldn’t mind a bangle with a heart as the closure…
Have a great weekend! :-)
Thank you! It’s even prettier in person! <3 Yes, I agree – I think that the bangles look great worn on their own. I don't load them up with charms, as I like the lightness of them. :)
Well, there was a picture of a bangle with a pavé heart-shaped clasp in the sneak peeks for the Spring 2015 collection, if you like sparklier pieces. ;) It would be lovely to have a plain heart clasp too, though!
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Thanks, enjoy your weekend too! :)
:) Ooooh, I have one of those pavé heart pendants and a pavé star. I’ve done so many cosmetic posts lately – I need to show my Pandora Christmas gifts…
Thanks for the extra picture!
Have a very good weekend! :-)
Ooh yes, I would absolutely love to see your Pandora xmas gifts! You should definitely do that post. ^^
You too! :)
I have both a full bangle and one that I wear either empty or with one charm. I’ve never noticed scratching, and on the full bangle it wouldn’t matter, because I will continue to wear it full. I like the largest size as it is loose and more comfortable. I found the medium uncomfortable hitting a bone on my wrist and the charms didn’t stay on the top of my wrist anyway. I love the bangles!
Oh good, glad to see you managed to get your comment posted haha. I love the bangles, as well – they’re so light and easy to wear. <3 I tend to wear one of the traditional bracelets if I want to fill it up with charms, as I also find them more comfortable than the bangle when full; I wear a medium bangle, though, so perhaps I'd find it better if I wore the largest size.
I love the vintage design you have done, I would love a two tone moments bracelet one day.
Thank you! it looked better in person, too, the white and the green look really really pretty with the gold. :)
Really beautiful bangle, Ellie! I like the charms you featured on it too, I might have to get that braided heart clip if Ruelala ever has it. I want to get a 2 tone bangle as my free gift with the next US Promo $500 spend. Last time I got the 2 tone snake chain which I also love. I have an all silver bangle, I got the small size (tight fit for me since I wear 7.5 inch moments!) which is perfect for wearing just a few charms and having them stay in front on the wrist but I think next time I will get the medium so I can fill it more!
Thank you! :D The braided heart clip is gorgeous – you should definitely grab one on sale if you can! It’s one of those pieces I’ve always wanted but couldn’t justify the money on. I was planning on getting someone to help me if it popped up on Rue La La, but luckily it went in the sales over here!
Ah good plan! it’s an absolutely fantastic deal, definitely worth saving up for. It would be great if they did something similar over here, but our qualifying spends are always very high as well. Ah it’s interesting that you went for the small bangle – I also wear the 7.5 moments, but I like quite a loose fit on the bangle, so I have the medium. I really like the lightness of the bangle though, so having it a little bigger on my wrist emphasises that quite nicely!
Oh yeah, I think either size could work if you wear 7.5 inch moments, when I got my bangle I didn’t have ANY pandora (that was less than a year ago and look at me now) and I didn’t know I would end up loving Pandora and collecting more and more charms. I bought during a free bracelet promotion, so I bought 2 clips and got the snake chain free and then i bought 2 charms (one was the pearl garden odyssey) and got the bangle free. I wanted a snugger fit for the bangle so I could wear just that pearl dangle on it and not have it slide around so much, which does work out really well. The small size is perfect for me to wear up to about 5-7 charms or less and they stay in place on top of the wrist without clips. I also like to take a single threaded dangle (like the filled with love dangle that looks like the vintage heart) and I thread it next to the clasp, so then when I wear it I have it right in front and it doesn’t move.
I’m thinking for my next bangle though I’d like to size up, as I have a round flex bangle from another brand that looks exactly like the Pandora bangle except no threads and plain barrel clasp. It is 7.85 inch but when I fill it up completely it is such a perfect size, I wish Pandora made this size in the bangle. I probably wear that bangle more than any of my other chains or bracelets because it is just so easy to load the charms on, I don’t have to worry about clip stations, I can fit more charms on it than I can the moments bracelet, more comfortable. I think the 7.5 I could probably almost fill though and still have it comfortable. I was thinking about 8.3 inch too but I think it might just be too big even all filled. And with the gold clasp maybe it would be nicer to not fill completely. Decisions, decisions. I love the 2 tone bangle though as the gold round clasp is so pretty and I think a lot more noticeable than the gold clasp on the snake chain.
Ah that sounds really pretty – I particularly love that pearl charm! <3 Yes several people have mentioned that the bangles’ sizing is pretty limited – Pandora should really consider adding to the sizes they currently offer, especially as they’ve proved so popular. It would be great to get one in 18cm (I guess that is 7.1?), to get a snugger fit without being too snug!
I can completely understand why your bangle is easier to wear – I get really tired of having to screw everything on and off my bracelets when I just want a quick rearrange haha. Consequently, I often just style smaller designs on the bangle when I’m trying to showcase a charm for a review, it’s just easier that way! It’s funny because Pandora are making more and more charms that don’t thread on now, so they’re kind of moving away from that whole USP anyway. Maybe they’ve realised that it can be quite a process!
Oh yes, what a good point about the spherical clasp being more dramatic in two-tone. I never even thought of that, I should have included a comparison shot (except that my two-tone moments bracelet has the older-style clasp without the crown above the ‘O’). I know that stores are really busy during promo time, but you could always go in before and try on a few different sizes all filled-up to see how they feel? Look forward to hearing what you go for in the end! :)
I also have the 2 tone bangle and appreciate they are expensive but I love it looks very elegant on I don’t wear any charms as I think it would ruin the look of the bangle looks pretty as it is, I wear mine.
Oh I completely agree, it’s more than beautiful enough to be worn plain. <3 I do usually wear a couple of charms on it (the green Vintage openwork and the braided heart clip) though and I'm planning to add a Darling Daisy clip to it too.