The First Silver Star • All About Trollbeads

Welcome back my readers! Today's post will be a featurette about Trollbeads.

•  prologue  •

Back when I used to work in Midvalley last year, a shop by the name of Trollbeads opened up in Mid-Valley Megamall. My first impressions of it was that it had a similar bead/charm bracelet design to Pandora, and that it looked like Pandora's more "mature" cousin if that makes sense haha (this is because Pandora's store in Midvalley was pink-ish, while Trollbeads was black/navy.

Trollbeads and Pandora in Mid Valley Megamall, KL.

I never really thought much about Trollbeads again until the topic in my new office shifted to it. According to my Danish co-worker Julie, Trollbeads was actually a big thing back in Denmark and that it was on the same level of prestige (if not higher) with Pandora!

My interest was definitely piqued because growing up in Ipoh & Penang, I was only ever exposed to brands like Pandora and Thomas Sabo.

•  the story  •

WHAT ARE TROLLBEADS?

The first Trollbeads were made in 1976 by Soren "Silversmith" Nielsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, and the company was founded by his sister Lise Aagaard. Trollbeads is actually the first and original jewelry line that produced bracelets with sterling silver beads, with other brands like Pandora & Thomas Sabo popping up after they had popularized the trend.

At the time of their creation, the trend was to have leather bracelets with only one dangling bead. To make things interesting, Soren did not use a dangling bead with an eyelet and instead made beads that could be pierced directly by the leather cord. After that, his sister Lise suggesting using sterling silver instead of leather cords, and that was how Trollbeads' signature look was born.

The original signature Trollbeads style with one bead and a sterling silver bracelet.

One of the first few Trollbeads made by Soren was called Faces. Faces had 6 unique faces that appeared as you rotated the bead!

One day, a customer had asked for more than one bead to be put in her bracelet, and that's how the tradition of beaded bracelets began. Soren and Lise designed all of Trollbeads' designs until 2000, and up till today, you can actually see which beads they created on Trollbeads' website!

In 2000, Lise invited 10 famous Danish jewelry designers to each make a signature Trollbead design to be added to the Trollbeads collection. Today, Trollbeads has over 100 jewelry designers from all over the world. You can now find a variety of beads in-store and on their website made from a variety of materials like precious stones like diamonds, pearls and amber to cool metals like 18k gold and their signature sterling silver.

Aside from beads and bracelets, Trollbeads now also has bangles, pendants, necklaces, earrings, rings:

and most interestingly, tiaras!

The tiaras use the same concept as the charm bracelets, and you can add beads and spacers to customize your very own tiara.

These really stood out for me because they were so unique! I don't think I've ever seen another brand with the same tiara concept as Trollbeads.

Today Trollbeads can be found online on their website and offlilne in over 400 cities worldwide (keep on reading to find out where you can find them here in Malaysia!).

•  one of a kind  •

WHAT MAKES TROLLBEADS SPECIAL?

With similar brands like Pandora and Thomas Sabo around who also sell/specialize in jewelry, I wanted to know what their differences were. I did quite a bit of research and here's what I found out.

TROLLBEADS

Q U I C K  F A C T S :

Founded: 1976

Based in: Copenhagen, Denmark

Manufactured in: Copenhagen, Denmark

Known for: Beads, charms and sterling silver & jewelry

PANDORA

Q U I C K  F A C T S :

Founded: 1982

Based in: Copenhagen, Denmark

Manufactured in: Thailand

Known for: Customizable charm bracelets.

THOMAS SABO

Q U I C K  F A C T S :

Founded: 1984

Based in: Lauf an der Pegnitz, Germany

Manufactured in: Lauf an der Pegnitz, Germany

Known for: Sterling silver & Charm Club collection.

So at first glance, all three companies may look similar to each other. All of them have silver jewelry and all of them are (obviously) foreign/of European origin. However, after comparing them you'll see that Trollbeads is indeed the original, having launched in 1976, 6 years before Pandora and 8 years before Thomas Sabo.

As for their origins, Thomas Sabo is originally from Germany, while Trollbeads and Pandora are originally from Denmark. However, did you know that Pandora's jewelry is made in their factories in Thailand and not in Denmark? I was kinda shocked to hear about this, because I had always thought Pandora was made in Europe. Not shading Thailand or anything like that, its just that when I thought of Pandora before, "high quality European jewelry" always came to my mind. After a bit of research, I found that Pandora initially started of as a jewelry importer that only transported jewelry from Thailand to Denmark, only moving on to creating original pieces later on. Trollbeads on the other hand started as a jewelry line in Denmark is still manufactured in Copenhagen up till this day, enlisting the talents of both local and international artists to design their jewelry.

Sterling silver bead/charm bracelets:

Trollbeads started off with sterling silver bead/charm bracelets from their conception in 1976 and now have over 600 different beads, while Pandora only introduced charm bracelets in 2000. This was kinda shocking to me too, as I initially thought that Pandora was the one who started the whole beads/charm bracelet trend. Thomas Sabo also jumped on the bandwagon and released their charm club/charm bracelets in 2014.

Trollbeads, Pandora and Thomas Sabo's sterling silver bracelets with charms and beads.

I guess if you look at sterling silver and charm bracelets, Trollbeads really is the original like how its stated in their logo.

Rings, earrings & pendants:

All three brands have other types of pieces of jewelry aside from their charm bracelets. Thomas Sabo is known for their sterling silver pieces whose designs range from modern & pop culture-inspired to elegant & classic.

Thomas Sabo designs

Pandora is known mostly for their charm bracelets, but also carry lots of other jewelry like necklaces, rings, bracelets and earrings. They come in all kinds of materials and styles, but I feel like Pandora leans more towards the simple/elegant vibe.

Pandora designs.

Trollbeads' other jewelry also comes in different materials aside from sterling silver like gold, copper and leather, but one thing I noticed about their style is that their aesthetic is more rustic and classic looking.

For example, take these ring & earring designs:

Trollbeads' rings

Trollbeads' earrings

To me they look more rustic/handmade & magical! Pandora & Thomas Sabo's jewelry is nice, don't get me wrong, but Trollbeads has a certain aesthetic/feel that resonates throughout all their items that make them all look handcrafted and ethereal.

Overall in terms of visual aesthetics, the main differences I can surmise are that Pandora has a more clean/polished vibe, Thomas Sabo has a modern vibe + lots of urban designs while Trollbeads also has modern designs but tends to stay more true to their roots, which is to have a more rustic and handmade vibe.

•  wish on a shooting star  •

MY TROLLBEADS WISHLIST

I've been stalking Trollbeads' website for days trying to see which beads I like the most + what my dream bracelet would look like. There's just so many designs to choose from that the combinations are almost endless!

There are 3 steps to making your own personalized Trollbeads creation:
1. Choose your bracelet
2. Choose your beads
3. Choose your lock

I finally managed to curate two bracelets that I think represent my style and me, in general, the best. Since I'm a guy, I'm not really a big fan of super colourful stones/murano/big gems, but I am a fan of gold and silver. For the bracelet, I selected the sterling silver one because it's basic, simple and classic:

1. Sterling Silver Bracelet, with Lock of Wisdom

As for the beads, here's 2 designs that I came up with! (And yes, I haphazardly photoshoped the beads onto the bracelet haha).



D E S I G N  O N E
mine heldige stjerner
M Y  L U C K Y  S T A R S

Showcasing Trollbeads' unique sterling silver crafstmanship, this bracelet that I created contains 5 beads and 2 spacers.

1. Guiding Star

2. Endless Impact

3. Momentum

4. Silver Spacer Oxidized

5. Star of Passion

6. Star of Focus

 When I first saw the selection of beads on Trollbeads' website, the very first design that caught my eye was the center bead in this bracelet "Guiding Star". I love stars, and the design was so simple yet grand. I loved it so much that it inspired the title of this blog post hahaha (btw the first silver star refers to Trollbeads being the original sterling silver superstar 😉).

Anyhoo, I also liked the "Star of Passion" (which is said to increase passion and creativity in ones life) & "Star of Focus" (which coincidentally was recommended for Scorpios like me!). There are other stars with different gems in the middle, but I chose these two because the colours were more minimalist + monochrome. I chose the two circular beads because they looked cool + selected the oxidized silver spacer because I feel like it made the whole design more put together and masculine! The circular bead "Endless Impact" is to remind that everything we do has an impact in the world, and the bead "Momentum" is to inspire you to keep on going forward.


D E S I G N  TWO
hele mit univers
M Y  U N I V E R S E

Inspired by my love of stars and the universe (and low-key EXO haha), this bracelet contains 8 immaculate gold beads (9 if you count the duplicated one).

1. Wishing Star
2. Brew of the Moor, Gold
3. Celestial Gold
4. Cherub, Gold
5. Stars
6. Stars, Gold
7. Planet
8. Around the World

As I mentioned above, I'm a big fan of gold and I think black + gold makes for a really regal combination. I spotted these black/gold beads as well as these stunning gold beads, and I just had to put them all together. The beads on this bracelet were actually selected based on more personal reasons. First, the gold cherubs were chosen because my name, Eros, means Cupid, the Greek god of love. My dad has a gold cherub necklace and they reminded me of that pendant.

The star beads were selected because of my strong love of stars, and two planets were chosen because of my love of EXO hahaha. Judge all you want, K-pop is a big part of my life okay. The two planets represent Exo-K and Exo-M, and if you aren't familiar with the legend of Exo, you can click here for more info.

As for locks, these two stood out the most for me:

1. Mexico Lock, Gold
2. Soft Wind of Change

The Mexico Lock is supposed to represent the colourful culture of Mexico, and I was just blown away by the combination of the gold and the gemstone! Soft Wind of Change is pretty simple, but I like the scroll pattern it has. I think the Mexico Lock paired with my Universe design would be perfect, and the Soft Wind of Change would definitely complete the ethereal vibe I have for my Lucky Stars design.

I think I did a pretty good job pairing the beads with each other! My Lucky Stars would be great for everyday use because it looks very minimalist & simple, but still fabulous. My Universe woud be too fancy to wear out on a daily basis but would be perfect for parties/events!

There's definitely an endless number of combinations you car create with Trollbeads' beads, spacers, bracelets, bangles, and locks. They just released their Spring Collection called The Enchanted Forest a few days back, featuring peacocks and fantasy animals.

Their 2018 Valentines collection will be released online and offline on Jan 26th, and as a teaser, they revealed the limited edition Rose Spacer.

Its a symbol of strong love, and although I might be single, I absolutely want it! If you didn't already know, I'm also very attached to roses (my name being Eros and all), and I can't wait to see what the other pieces in this collection are! (Hopefully lots of roses haha).

Trollbeads' Mother's Day collection will be released on February 16th, and it will feature a new limited edition glass bead called Mamma Mia:

Their Father's day collection, on the other hand, will be released on February 23, and will feature a new, limited edition sterling silver bead called Shield:

•  starmap  •

WHERE TO FIND TROLLBEADS

Today, Trollbeads can be found online on their website and offline in over 400 cities worldwide. If you're in Malaysia, you can find them offline in the following store locations: 

1. Vivacity Megamall
G-064, Ground Floor, Vivacity Megamall, Jalan Wan Alwi 93330 Kuching Sarawak Kuching, Malaysia 

2. Sunway Pyramid
G1.13A, Ground Floor, Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall, No. 3, Jalan PJS 11/15, Bandar Sunway, 46150 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. 

3. Mid Valley Megamall
G-008, Mid Valley Megamall, 1, Lingkaran Syed Putra, Mid Valley City, 58000 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur

You can find Trollbeads online on their website at  & on their official Facebook & Instagram as follows. Click on the bold text to be redirected! 😉)

And that's the end of this post! I hope you guys enjoyed it and learned a lot about Trollbeads like I did. If you can, definitely drop by their store and check out their beads yourself! I dropped by a couple of times to see if they looked as good as how they did online and they did not disappoint haha.

Thank you guys so much for reading, see y'all in the next post!