Today brings my next review from the Pandora Winter 2017 collection, with a closer and suitably festive look at the Christmas Polar Bear charm! – I’m rounding off the review with a look through my Christmas collection.
This is the only new Christmas bead I’ve bought this year so far, so I’m kind of going all out on the holiday theme for this review, as it might be my only Christmas review this year. But you never know! Maybe I’ll hoover up something else before the 25th hits.
Read on for a closer look at this charm, and lots of festive inspiration!
Pandora Christmas Polar Bear review
The Polar Bear is my favourite of the new Christmas beads. I love that there’s no pave, while the addition of a little enamel scarf is tastefully done and a nice addition. The charm is threaded, and he feels much more like a traditional Pandora charm, and yet the detailing is a bit more stylised and up-to-date than some of their older designs. His pose makes him look like he’s standing guard, waiting to flag Santa down for you!
We did previously have a dangle Polar Bear charm (which you can see in the styling section down below!), but I love that we now have a full-bodied design. It’s cute, but not overly so, with a light touch on the detailing. Its face is chubby and cuddly, but minimally defined. The feet and hands have claws, but they are simply done. He looks kind of sleepy, haha.
There aren’t really any surprises to be found at the back of the charm, or underneath. He has a little tail, and his scarf continues around, but there isn’t any extra detailing. The charm is very burnished and bright, as is common with Pandora’s more recent charms. Less oxidation, more shining silver.
The scarf is quite dark in person, offering a more sophisticated lick of colour than some other Christmas red enamel beads. You could get away with styling this in a more general bracelet design, I think!
Styling
And this is how I’ve styled it! I’ve finally found a use for my silver triple leather bracelet, which has been bounced around many different designs and beads over the years. I’m really happy with this, though. The combination of the bright red and the light blue is unusual, but works for me.
You can see what I mean about the Polar Bear being so shiny, though. The oxidised detailed of the older Christmas Teddy Bear charm is so much easier to catch on camera. The Polar Bear is smooth and shiny, and all the details are kind of swallowed up in the light!
And now, as I mentioned in my last review, I’m going to take a little tour through my Pandora Christmas collection and designs! Over the years, I’ve accumulated a lot of Christmassy beads and have used them all in different ways, so I thought it would be fun to take a look at them all. :)
Starting us off, this is one of my favourite and oldest designs. It was my third bracelet, and put together at the height of my Pandora craze (not that I’m not enthused now – I am – but Pandora was fresher for me back then, and the new designs were consistently exciting. Each new bead I got felt like an event and I could barely wait to see what was coming out next!). Some of my favourite old school Pandora festive beads are on this – the Mittens, the Gingerbread Man, the Reindeer, Dashing through the Snow (the two-tone sleigh) and the Black Friday 2013 Let it Snow. Can’t believe so many hang around in the sales these days!
Next, we have a more recent bangle design. This is a Christmas garden design, with the cheerful and chubby Red Robin and the Poinsettia Black Friday 2016 charm. The blossom murano softens the harsher pavé effect of the other two beads, I think.
These two bracelets are again, wintry but kind of holiday appropriate. The bracelet on the left is a blue, icy take on a mini Christmas design, mixing crisp pavé blues with a little two-tone in the form of the Snowflake clips (two of my favourites!). The bracelet on the right is my Northern Lights mini leather bracelet, with the original polar bear dangle. The leather is retired and I got it cheaply, but it’s a large size and doesn’t fit well :(
Next, we have my two most explicitly festive designs! This is my red festive bangle design. I added the Candy Cane dangle after it went in the US sales over the summer. The Rudolph and Gingerbread House are Chamilia, not Pandora – my only two Chamilia beads. They do such cute beads for the holidays!
Last but not least, this is my Christmas bracelet proper. I’d have loved to put the Wreath dangle from this year’s holiday collection on it, but there is no space on it! I like the combination of the cherry red with a lighter pastel green.
Conclusion
And there you have it! The Christmas Polar Bear is adorable and a worthy addition to my existing collection of Pandora beads, even if he’s not quite as fun as some of their other designs (among my favourites rank the Gingerbread Man dangle, the Mittens, the Christmas Puppy/Kitten, Mrs Claus and Santa’s House). But he’s nevertheless sweet, cuddly and festive, without being too OTT in terms of the use of colour or cute detailing.
I hope you enjoyed the little walk through my holiday collection as well. There are lots of different things you can do with the holiday beads, especially those that aren’t bright red in colour!
Did you get the Polar Bear? And do you have any Christmas designs of your own?
The polar bear is on my wishlist and hoping to get it soon. He is so cute, and just like you said, he remembers me of ‘old’ Pandora. So this is a must have!
I hope you get him soon, too! :D
I bought the polar bear charm to get my free ornament and then he went on sale this weekend on the 35% sale here in the US. Oh, welll, he’s still cute. But you’re right, nothing else in the winter collection appealed to me. The Jared reindeer Christmas(GWP) ornament is gorgeous and I was able to get it.
Haha, I know. I bought him and the Wintry Delight, both of which were on sale! It happens pretty often with Pandora these days – most of my older beads have been on sale since I bought them. ^^ Glad you got the ornament too! Mine is on my way to me from the States, can’t wait for it to arrive!
I made a themed bracelet exclusively animals, I put them together for material, ziconi with zircons, bee and frog with golden chaplet etc. Too bad I can not post the picture via mobile phone. The bear would have been very good in my bracelet but the words “Santa ….” made me decide not to buy it, would not be in line with the style of the bracelet. That said, the polar bear is one of the funniest and most entertaining characters on the Christmas theme.
Your bracelet sounds lovely! It’s a shame that the Bear wasn’t a match for it, but I totally get what you mean about the engraved charms not necessarily matching with a particular design. There are lots of family-themed charms that I would have liked, but the writing on them has put me off.
You could always post a picture to the Mora Pandora facebook page! It’s a shame that you can’t upload pics to the blog comments :(
I’m not on Facebook, only Twitter and I use it very little :)
Hi Ellie!
Love, love love the way you styled these bracelets! It’s what I love most about Pandora. Everyone in my little Pandora circle of friends and family falls in love with the same charm. We buy them, and each and every one of us uses it differently. When my BFF and I hit the store, we start by asking for the same charm. One consultant helps me with companion charms, another helps her. In the end, we end up with completely different designs. It is so cool to be able to wear something that is so uniquely personalized.
The polar Bear was my first must have from this collection. Your description of him “standing watch” for Santa is spot on. And I like combining some bright silver with the older, more heavily oxidized charms. It freshens up the look nicely. I have gone back to some of my older bracelets and added some bright silver to them. Just 2 or 3 brighter silver charms makes the older ones feel “new”again.
I picked up the Rockettes bright ornament and the blue snow globe in addition to the polar bear. These were the only ones I chose from this collection that are more “Christmassy”. (Is that a word?). I considered the wreath, and may still get it eventually.
By the way, I love the full bodied Rudolph charm. I don’t have that one… Grrr! Another one to search out.
Merry Christmas to All! Off to wrap packages…
Hi Deborah!
Aw, yay, thank you! I was pretty excited to show these bracelets.I really like having the opportunity to show off multiple bracelets from my own collection, but I rarely do so as I’m always a little afraid of what people will think, haha. And yes, that is absolutely the magic of Pandora! So many people the world over might have the same bead, but we’ve all used it differently. :)
The Rudolph is a Chamilia bead! He’s one of my few Pandora exceptions. I don’t think Pandora’s Rudolph charm is quite as sweet (although I have that one too!).
Thanks for commenting Deborah! Hope you had fun wrapping presents. I’ve made a start on mine, but I’m not quite finished yet. ^^
I can’t find it either, that Rudolph full bodied! I have all of these and yes, I agree with the diversity that the charms allow us to design all of our bracelets uniquely different. Love my BFF!
Ellie, thank you so much for posting all of these lovely pictures of your favorites. I am one to create a bracelet and never change it! And now my collection is even driving me nuts! I might have to start embracing the idea of “taking apart” and repurposing!
This Winter was the best collection. I even purchased the 12 days of Xmas from Jared’s Jewelry and even though, I owned many of these, a duplicate or two works great and the others to be gifted. Love PANDORA!
The full bodied Rudolph is Chamilia bead not Pandora. He is adorable but I am a Pandora loyalist so wouldn’t purchase.
Ah. That explains why I’ve never seen it. I occasionally purchase a different brand when Pandora doesn’t make it, and I need it for a particular theme. Star Wars for my son’s childhood bracelet, for example. But I am 99% true to Pandora as well. Thanks for clearing up the mystery.
I am more than 99% true to Pandora, haha! I have so many Pandora charms (I won’t say quite how many lol) but only three from other brands – the two Chamilia Christmas beads and a TB murano!
Kelly’s right, it’s Chamilia! A rare deviation from my favourite brand, but I just loved the Rudolph so much that I had to have it.
I’m so glad that you enjoyed seeing the pictures! I don’t often change my bracelets around either, but there are some designs where I’ve always had a niggling suspicion that they could be better and occasionally I get inspired and swap muranos around, haha. But for the most part, I keep them the same!
Yay, enjoy all your new charms! The Jared gift sets always look fun, but they’re a little too pricey for me. ^^
Hi Ellie! I’ve been very excited for this review because I just ordered the Polar Bear Charm in the sale, so he is on the way! I have the original, now-retired polar bear dangle and I have a bit of an obsession with polar bears in general, so I knew I had to have this little guy! I love how you styled him; it’s a very creative design that works very well! It’s funny you took awhile to find a design for your triple silver metallic leather bracelet—I have struggled to find a design for that very same bracelet as well. Anyway, I plan to put the Polar Bear on my red full bracelet—I just have to remove one of the older charms and find a place for that one.
I also enjoyed seeing all of your Christmas bracelet designs. It is a shame you don’t have space for the Wreath Charm on your one design. I just received it for Christmas, and it’s a very cute charm. With all that I have bought from this year’s winter collection, I had to start a new design this year. I have built a blue and green design on a silver smooth clasp bracelet. So far, it has the Holiday Wreath, Bright Star, Wintry Delight, Christmas Night, Snowy Wonderland, two Icy Green Radiant Droplets, and the Green and Blue Moasaic Shining Elegance Clips. I also ordered the Green Radiant Hearts Charm and Starry Formation Clips to add to it. I was originally going to put the Ice Drops Murano on there, but it was a bit of a clearer color in person, so I decided on the Green Radiant Hearts instead.
Sounds beautiful!
Hi Joanne! Aw, I’m sorry that it’s a little light on the actual Polar Bear. I got caught up in doing my whole Pandora Christmas collection! Glad you enjoyed it anyway, and that you liked the design ^^ The silver leather has been tricky for me! It needs soft colours, I think, and I’ve never had quite the right beads for it before now. I’m happy with those now though :D
No, but I think the wreath would look nice either on my red leather, which is empty, or the Heart of Winter bangle. I really like how pretty it looks and how affordable it is, too! It would be a cute necklace pendant as well. You bracelet sounds lovely, you don’t see much blue and green together, so it sounds like you’ve created something both beautiful and unusual :) Thanks for commenting!
Ha, ha, Ellie, you always make me feel better about how much my Pandora collection has grown. And here I was, thinking, “I’m running out of room on my Christmas bracelet. Do I really “NEED” a second one?” Apparently, yes – they make me happy! ???
I got the polar bear too. While I really like the red Christmas ornament from this year, the little polar bear was my one “must have”. Besides, I went to Alaska this year. Perfect timing!
Thanks for showing us your Christmas collection. You always give me great ideas for styling my own collection. Have you seen the little Victorian Christmas House that Chamilia has? Very sweet – and quite tempting!
PS. I would love, love, LOVE to see a jingle bell/ sleigh bell charm from Pandora. Something mostly silver, perhaps with a red bow and bit of detail. Either a dangle or not – but if it would actually jingle, I’d be head over heels!
Aw, that would be very cute! :) I just got the bells dangle from Rue La La actually, but a new design would be nice – especially if it had some genuine jingle haha!
I’m working on my 4th! I console myself that I can wear a bracelet on each arm and the other set on a necklace. The fourth is my glitzy party one! So I don’t think you can put a number on happiness! Lol! Besides, we wear our Christmas stuff for over a month, and variety is the spice of life.
Hey, my feelings exatly, lol!!
You all take the guilt off me, haha. Pandora it´s my only vice, after all and well, it makes me happy playing with the charms to build a design to match my clothes or my mood. Sometimes dressy, sometimes plain. Full or with just a few beads. Ifind it almost therapeutic, lol! Merry Cristmas to all!
Christmas.
Me too Marie! I find Pandora a wonderfully uncomplicated thing and very soothing :) sometimes shiny pretty things can be a good antidote to a stressful day!
Haha, yes, you can always rely on me for that! ? Running the blog has almost entirely eroded my sense of what’s sensible when it comes to Pandora. Ah well, there are worse vices to have! ?
Oh my gosh, Clair, that Victorian Home is adorable! I hadn’t seen it before. What a cool charm. If only I had room on either of my red/green bracelets :'( maybe I could start another bangle with it and the Christmas Wreath dangle… See, I’m proving my own point haha! The answer is always another bracelet ;) Thanks for the tip on that one!
To me Ms. Ellie, the Polar Bear is really cute next to the Winter charms for 2017. But I will find out how much it costs. Happy Holidays Ms. Ellie.
Happy holidays to you too Karen! :)
Hi Claire Bear
Christmas bracelets make me happy too, I think it is hard to have just one with all of the great charms Pandora has released over the years.
Good point! Besides, as a mom, I find that I’m the one that carries the bulk of the “Christmas load”. So I buy myself a charm or two a year as a present to myself. Better living through complete and total rationalization! ?
ClaireBear,
I think that’s a wonderful idea to treat yourself! A nice bit of self care is impotant over the holidays. You are so right about moms carrying the Christmas load,
Cheers!
Lisa K.
Agreed, Lisa!
Thank you for sharing your Christmas collection Ellie. My favourite retired Pandora charm for Christmas is the pinecone with red ribbon on top. I don’t have it but it looks so nice on every Christmas bracelet I have seen including yours.
The red ribbon pine cone is on Rue La la right now. Caught my eye but resisted urge to get as wanting and saving for rose gold charms when Pandora runs buy 2 get 1 promotion in Canada.
Thanks Kelly. I struggle to get onto Rue La la but that’s ok as the charm is not a must have.
Thanks Lozzie! The pinecone is lovely! I picked mine up on a whim in the sales but was really delighted by it when I saw it in person. The red bow on top is lovely. I hope one makes its way to you some day!
Hi Ellie great collection I didn’t realise you had so many different designs but I love them all. I got the polar bear he so cute I think he has a quite a grumpy face but I love it. I also got the Christmas wreath dangle the enamel is so lovely. My Christmas bracelet is full I can’t fit another charm on and believe me I have tried. I do need to add a clip. I have ordered a red leather so I’m going to do a mini design. Great post loved reading it.
Hi Nicola, haha, neither did I until I got them all out for this post! I went overboard without even realising it. ;) Haha, I know what you mean about him looking grumpy. It’s kind of what I meant by sleepy. I was thinking of a grumpy sleepy face waking up in the morning. If that makes sense! ^^
Haha, you should definitely do another mini design! There are too many great Christmas beads to just stick to one bracelet ;) thanks Nicola, I’m so glad you enjoyed it :)
Hi Ellie,
After reading your review, all I can say is that the little guy will come home with me one of these days. I was already considering it, so it wasn’t difficult to convince me ?
I like that it’s threaded and above all that it’s simple and cute.
On a different note, thank you for showing us your bracelets. I always enjoy watching how other people combine their charms. It gives me new ideas ?
And that bubble you’ve put beside them in the pics looks almost identical to some of the ones hanging from my tree, lol!
Well, have a nice week ahead if the weather allowows it. We are having such an awfull storm in Europe right now and getting worse in the next few hours! (I don’t mind the rain but absolutely hate the wind)⛈????
Can’t wait to your next post!
Hi Marie,
Aw, yay! I’m always happy to hear that reviews have helped people to make up their mind. I’m sure you will love your little Polar Bear! :D
Haha, well it is a pretty bauble! We’ve gone for coppery tones for the tree this year, with a little bit of purple thrown in as well :) a bit different and a touch more elegant than usual! Although it did mean that my Rockettes Pandora ornament didn’t really go with it! ^^
Have a good week too Marie! The weather has been atrocious here as well. Unfortunately it didn’t snow for us where we are (I’m one of those people who loves the snow!) but it has been cold and stormy nevertheless. Hope it’s improved for you at least :) Thank you for commenting, as always <3
Hello Ellie, thank you for the Xmas tour of your collection (a red Xmas theme I feel). My daughter has got me the poinsietta charm which I think will go really well on the dainty bow bangle which I have, like yourself, together with the cherry blossom Murano, as well as another red flower Murano and the folklore Murano (picks up the red from that), as well as a British rose charm I have. It is a sort of red theme bracelet.
Hi Liz! Oh, sounds perfect. I think that will be lovely – lots of red but a little bit of interest from the pink in the CB murano and the swirls of green and blue in the Folklore. <3
Hi Ellie, I like your sparkly robin next to cherry blossom Moreno bead. I have both of these and plan to try this out.
Thanks Kelly! :D They do look nice together, I think the delicate cherry blossom really brings out the details of the robin and stops the pave from being too harsh.
Hi Ellie,
I love this charm, it hits all the right notes and it was one of the first charms from the winter collection that I picked up. You are right that it is a lot like the original pandora and it looks great with the mittens and gingerbread charms. Honestly, I love all your designs. The grey leather bracelet with the blue murano really caught my eye – blue arctic glow that the ice flows have. When I lived in Newfoundland, I used to see the Icebergs run a ground in the summer and they had that same blue glow that you could see just below the water’s surface – no polar bears though. Your original “Third Bracelet” design is my next favourite with all the wonderful winter dangles, reindeer, mittens etc. The Chamilia Rudolph is superb and I think would look great with the new Polar Bear. The Red and Green muranos in your last bracelet design really help frame the Holly Murano – I will be copying that technique.
A few years ago I picked up the Polar Bear Dangle, it reminds me of the Canadian Arctic and I have it on my Canada 150 bracelet. The red scarf on the new polar bear is very playful and made it a must on my all red and silver Christmas themed bracelet. I think I will put this charm on my New Year’s themed bracelet because he is so well done and I want to enjoy him for as long as possible. I pulled out the double champagne glass dangle that I have not used in years – I think that and the HCA hat will make a nice NY’s Eve design.
My fingers are crossed for an elf charm – perhaps a little splash of green on the elf hat. I think it would compliment with the Mr. & Mrs. Claus charms.
Well, Ellie, that was one heck of a review! Well done and thanks for the fabulous design inspirations!! I hope you have a wonderful holiday season.
Cheers
Lisa K
Hi Lisa! Thanks very much, I’m so glad you like them :D I was very excited to post them! And even better that you like my purple oxidised bracelet. It’s a real Ellie classic design, back when I used to build things a little slower haha :) You are always so thoughtful and sweet in your comments, I do love to read them!
Ah, I do like the sound of your New Year’s design,Lisa! I don’t have the double champagne glass, but am always tempted by it. Why the HCA hat? I have that one and love it. It kind of sums up why I love a lot of the much older Pandora designs. It pays real homage to their roots and culture, I think :)
An elf charm would be so cute! I’m surprised they haven’t done one recently. There are lots more Christmas designs they could do. Chamilia did such an adorable sugar plum charm a couple of years ago, but it was only part of a very expensive gift set. Chamilia do really great seasonal releases! I’d like a jack in the box or some more toy-themed charms as well. I get super nostalgic around Christmas!
Haha, thanks so much Lisa! I hope you have a lovely time over the holidays too, and enjoy wearing your stunning new bracelet designs! <3
Love all your reviews…have several Pandora themed bracelets…cats..horses..memory one for my mother…Xmas..and ELVIS!! This year designed a Blue Xmas Elvis with all the winter blues! Would love for u to see it if I knew how to send a picture.
Judy, I would love to see the blue Christmas elvis bracelet. My brother was a big elvis fan his whole life. He passed away two years ago and I miss him dearly. Myself, I have always been horse crazy, I have been fortunate enough to own four in my life and currently still have one. Your bracelets sound awesome
If Judy sends me a pic, I’ll post a link to it Tammy! :)
Thank you Judy :D Oh my gosh, Elvis sounds amazing! You can’t post a pic on the blog unfortunately, but if you have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc, you could send me a picture there? I’d love to see it! :)
I like your silver triple leather design! I love the blue looking glass murano. My first murano and it got me hooked on the glass lol. I am trying to put together an icy blue bracelet but so many of the ones that match are retired so we will see if that ever happens.
I know, and it’s becoming so hard to find retired charms these days! Before they ran sales, online stores used to have good stock of the older beads. I love the looking glass muranos as well – they weren’t quite my first glass beads, but I got the pink and white ones very early on in my collection:) really glad you like the design, and thanks for commenting!
Your bracelets are adorable. You know my Christmas bracelet consists of the ugly snow globe on red leather. But yesterday when I was ordering the Starry Night Sky murano, I almost got the polar bear, had him in my cart, but then decided on a second Starry Night instead, much more versatile. Although, now I think of it, I could have a bear bracelet (I have the koala, the panda, bear hugs, it’s a girl, etc., and Troll bears) and stick him on that and wear him at any time of the year.
Haha, whenever I see that snow globe on Rue, I think of you Lola! I’ve come close to buying it a couple times as it makes me laugh. We’ll see, I still might! A bear bracelet sounds adorable! And definitely one that you could wear all year round :) the odd Christmas charm here and there never hurt anyone!
Do you ladies know if Pandora ever released a candy cane striped murano? I have seen few pop up on Poshmark and I question if they are authentic or not.
Hi Angela, yes they did! In a variety of colours. I have the green one on my Christmas bracelet in this post :) doesn’t mean to say that the ones you’ve seen are authentic, but Pandora have definitely made that design!
Have they made a red stripe one though?
Yes, there was a red one.
Yes, they did! Sorry for the delay Angela – although I see Judy stepped in for me. :)
I’m posting rather late here! I didn’t get the polar bear, but I did get the wreath dangle and I ordered the festive stocking during the 35% off sale. It would’ve been neat if you could have the stocking customized with a first name. I like the enamel detailing on Christmas beads because the color really pops. Thanks for the showcase of your Christmas bracelets!
That’s such a great idea with the engraving! If they could somehow manage it, that would be a great little gimmick for Christmas. :D
Happened to notice today that I missed this email. I have to tell you the Rudolph and Gingerbread House beads by Chamilia were absolutely adorable; as much as I love Pandora their charms are not always as detailed and ‘Christmasy’ as I would like!
I completely agree! While Pandora is my first love, I do wish that they’d engage a little more fully with the whimsy like Chamilia often do! ?