Years ago, you might have dreamed of opening a Tiffany bracelet or a designer watch on Christmas day, but now there’s only one brand women want to receive – cheap gold pandora charms and the proof was in the queues of dozens of men and women outside Pandora’s Exeter store yesterday.
Pandora, famous for its charm bracelets and stacking rings, has managed to double sales each year since 2000, with celebrities such as Millie Mackintosh and Abbey Clancy are frequently spotted wearing the brand.
And when you unwrap your presents on Christmas morning, it’s highly likely there will be a Pandora trinket in there, given that the UK is the company’s second biggest market behind the US – and it’s the most searched jewellery brand on Google.
So how did the firm, which started as a small family venture in Copenhagen 34 years ago, explode into an empire valued by Forbes at ￡11.5 billion, making ￡2 billion in 2016 alone?
Per Enevoldsen, who started Pandora in 1982 with his wife Winnie, says this is a question that he still asks himself today.
‘At no stage did I ever dream Pandora would become what it has,’ the highly-private businessman told Jeweller Magazine.
The incredibly popular brand is now worth an estimated ￡11.5billion and industry experts predict that the brand’s rings will attract in excess of one million searches on Google this year alone.
