Which Pandora Essence charm are you?

Those quizzes on Buzzfeed are addictive — in no way life-changing or near reliable, but pretty darn hard to resist. The title says, “Which ‘90s alt-rock chick are you?” And I just feel like I must find out. It’s the need to share what we’re all about, whether that’s perma-pissed Alanis, brooding Fiona, or mumbling Tori, that makes us want to spare five minutes of our time for a quiz. Going through Pandora’s latest, the Essence collection, is much like taking one of those quizzes — a fun, interesting exercise in self-discovery.

The collection features a sterling silver bracelet with an accompanying assortment of 24 hand-finished sterling charms, each representing a personal value. The assortment, which includes passion, freedom, hope, happiness, confidence, faith, health, peace, compassion, trust, stability, energy, love, courage, wisdom, wellness, prosperity, loyalty, positivity, balance, respect, joy, honesty and strength, slide effortlessly onto the Essence Collection bracelet, and are secured in place with the patent-pending flexible silicone grip built inside the sterling silver core of each charm.  Each one is engraved with a personal value and created with symbolic stones, colors, patterns and finishes. Some are adorned with gemstones in faceted and smooth cuts, as they relate to gemstone tradition, while other charms are decorated with cubic zirconia. For charms representing freedom, health, honesty, respect, wellness and wisdom, these are crafted with sterling silver designs.

At the collection’s launch at Shangri-La Hotel Makati, every woman in the room was asked a “charming” question: Which Pandora Essence charm best describes who you are, or what you’re striving for? A deck of Essence cards, each one describing the value represented by the individual charms, served as a guide, and so did a group of admirable women of “True Essence.”

Designer, entrepreneur and mom Amina Aranaz-Alunan represented Prosperity, which she defined as “having a dream, a goal, a vision, and being joyful while working to achieve it,” like founding the School of Fashion and the Arts whose graduates are now working with major fashion brands, and her foundation, Rags to Riches, through which her team helps the less fortunate in a non-traditional fashion.

For Atty. Karen Jimeno-McBride, Wisdom and Courage work hand in hand. The high-profile lawyer and Facebook-ordained “courtroom crushie” who once was part of the Corona defense team during the former Chief Justice’s impeachment trial is now the communications director for the rehabilitation of Yolanda-stricken areas of Southern Philippines. She said, “Courage is not the absence of fear, but it’s taking that fear and overcoming it in order to do the right thing, even if you’re criticized. It’s doing what needs to be done.” Host Angel Jacob joked, “I’m scared.” I think we all were — scared and in awe.

Model, fashion blogger and soon-to-be bride Kim Jones chose Love. “For me, love is everywhere and it may come in the smallest details. You can see and feel love in a conversation, in a smile, through a kind gesture. We just need to look for it and see it in a different and positive light,” she said. She moved from Australia to the Philippines and, according to her, finding love has made it all worthwhile.

Lisa Macuja-Elizade, the country’s one and only prima ballerina, is brimming with Passion. “Passion is dance. It’s my commitment and my intense love for classical ballet, which is the strictest form of dance,” she said. “Because I love what I do and I’m very passionate about my art, it doesn’t feel like work. For me, passion is vital because that is what makes life worth living.”

Among the audience, Freedom was a popular goal: “The power to act, speak or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint,” the card said. Although I think this also had to do with the fact that the Freedom Essence charm is a stunner — paisley-patterned cutouts in silver, perhaps a nod to the carefree ‘70s. Who could resist?

Energy was also an obvious choice, especially with a room full of writers and editors. “Energy is the power of life, the source within you that always will light your way.” Beauty. The charm itself looks like petrified fire, and really does seem like it’s emanating a vital force.

The Pandora Essence tree was all out of my first choice — Balance — so instead I got Strength, a prism-cut gem in an opaque, mysterious black. I guess it’s the universe’s way of telling me what I need, because how does one balance without strength? Mangling the words of my ‘90s alt-rock icon AIanis, it’s good advice that I just had to take. No irony here, these jewels are head-over-feet charming.

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Pandora is available at Greenbelt 5, Glorietta 4, Bonifacio High Street Central, Newport Mall, Shangri-La Mall East Wing, The Podium, Elemento in Aura Mall, Megamall Expansion and Century City Mall.