Charm Campaign

Court Rules in Chamilia's Favour

A United States District Court for the District of Maryland ruled that Chamilia's jewelry, which uses decorative locks similar to the ones Pandora uses to stop beads from bunching or sliding on the strand, does not infringe upon Pandora's patent.  A ruling on the validity of Pandora's patent is still awaited from the court.

The beads used by both Chamilia and Pandora are interchangeable.  So hopefully this ruling will have cleared up any of the misinformation out there that has kept retailers from adding Chamilia to their lines.
In its ruling, the court found "... the interchangeability of Chamilia and Pandora beads ... only promotes competition and choice for consumers."   

As one of the consumers I have to say I think this is a good thing.  I love to mix and match beads on my bracelet, and while I am a big old Pandora fan from way back I have beads from five different companies on my current Pandora bracelet (and if I could fit Trollbeads on there would be six).  After all the idea of the bracelets is to personalise them.

What do you guys think?   Do you like to mix and match your beads?  Do you stick only to one company?

Chamilia Down Under

To celebrate their first year in Australia, Chamilia will be unveiling its newest range of charm beads at the JAA Australian Jewellery Fair 08 in Sydney (Sept. 7 - 9, 2008), now there's a fair I'd love to go to.

To quote from the press release, which I've edited a bit because they do go on.

"We have been overwhelmed with the reception Chamilia has received in Australia," said Jeff Julkowski, Chamilia CEO. "We anticipate record sales in Australia in 2009 as even more people discover this beautiful and unique personalised jewellery." Chamilia also announced it will continue its expansion with the opening of an office in New Zealand. "Chamilia has become very popular in New Zealand and the new office will better allow us to support our growing list of retailers," said Robert Barry, operator of Chamilia Australia. Chamilia was introduced in Australia in summer 2007 and is now available in more than 140 retail outlets nationally.

For those of us down under Chamilia has an Australian website too  www.chamilia.com.au

Chamilia Signs New Distribution Agreement in Spain.

For those of you in Spain, good news, looks like supplies of Chamilia's range of jewellery & charms are going to be sticking around

From the Chamilia Press Release :-

U.S. jewellery designer and manufacturer Chamilia LLC, and Spanish distributor Gama, S.L. announced a long-term agreement to continue offering the popular jewellery line in  Spain and  Portugal.

Specializing in silver and jewellery services approximately 3,000 retailers and began carrying Chamilia products in 2006 they will be displaying the line at the peninsula’s top trade shows, including Spain's Iberjoya and the Portojoia Expo in  Portugal.

For those not aware of this brand of charm beads, Chamilia have a wide variety of unique bead designs.  The beads are nicely detailed and made of a range of materials sterling silver, 14k gold, Murano Glass, Swarovski crystals.  Chamilia is the only charm company licensed to produce Disney charms and has a lovely collection of charms for fans of the "Happiest Place on Earth.  All Chamilia beads fit onto Pandora and similar necklaces & bracelets, though I have found the charms to be slightly smaller looking than many of the Pandora range so you have to mix & match the beads carefully.