Story by Kranz and Ziegler - Watch Charm Review

When I first heard the news that Story would be releasing their watch charms to the UK market I was really excited to turn my bracelet into a watch... it was 1 year later when I finally got my wish!

Photos really don't do this justice but I will try...

The charm is silver coloured high gloss polished steel with genuine shards of mother-of-pearl and with the bling of 12 Swarovski Crystals.

It has a hoop on the back in the same way as any other button charm, so you just slide and twist on to the bracelet.  As they are a snug fit twisting them on makes it easier - less friction and less chance of causing any damage to the bracelet, once on they stay put!  Just twist off when you decide to change your design again.

I've styled my watch a few different ways since I got it but I kept coming back to the watch and heart on my black lambskin below.

I only popped into the shop I bought it from randomly on the off chance whilst I was passing... they had 3 more designs in stock at the time.

Story do offer a much wider range than these four designs - you can click on the link at the top of the post for a much more detailed look at the ones that were released to the UK market last year; the first two in the photo above were part of a much more recent collection.

Sadly though my story doesn't have a happy ending... buyer beware!

My battery ran out and needed replacing, as they do!  As my normal watch battery had also run down I took both to a shop to buy some new batteries.

My battery was changed by the shop in both cases, but they were not impressed by the Story watch charm at all - as it was hard to get the back off, and almost impossible to put it back on again.  They showed me what they were talking about so I could see for myself... I had to agree with them on that score but told them to go ahead and change it anyway as I really liked the watch.  That was my mistake...

The design of the charm as a watch is, in my opinion, not great in terms of being able to change the battery, something that is fairly critical to owning a battery powered watch - my watch charm was in fact damaged when the back was eventually put back on - the face was cracked and it stopped working all together!

I took it back to the original shop I bought it from (well within the 12 months), as after talking to fellow Story fans I discovered I wasn't the only one who had been disappointed by the lack of a practical design - indeed others had returned theirs for a refund.

The original shop would not refund or issue a credit, as the battery had been changed by someone other than them, and they did not believe it was a bad design.  Story would not refund or credit but would repair it (at my cost) after I'd paid for the charm to be sent back - but couldn't say how much it would cost until they'd seen it in person.

So given that I don't think the design is up to par for using it as a watch in a practical sense, I've decided to sadly write off my £69 - and not spend any further money posting it back to Story to get a quote for repair as I do feel I would be throwing good money after bad.

Ironically the original shop I bought it from, and everywhere else I shop in person or online for Story are also dropping the line.  So although I could pick up another watch charm at a fraction of the price I paid originally - I'd still be left with nowhere to change the battery lest I void my warranty!

I've really debated writing this post at all as generally my jewellery brings me joy, and this whole episode has left me feeling both angry and upset in equal measure.  However having enthused so much about the watch charms on the blog, I feel I should at least share my experience and leave you to make up your own minds - hopefully my experience is in the minority!

I've never had any quality issues with any of my other Story charms, I love the brand to bits and I'm really sad that so many shops in the UK are dropping the line; I do think it's the best of it's kind for that type of bracelet and charms!

But my advice to anyone who has bought a watch charm would be:

Make sure you take it back to the original shop you bought it from

when the battery needs changing - just in case! 

Story by Kranz and Zeigler

Story by Kranz and Ziegler are a Danish brand, not as widely known in the UK as other brands but they certainly seem to be gaining popularity amongst my friends at least; as every time I show one of them a Story Bracelet the brand seem to instantly gain another fan!

My interest in the Story brand started over a year ago with this review on Endangered Trolls and whilst I've yet to indulge in the snakeskin range I seem to be adding to my collection nevertheless.

My first choice was the Black Lambskin 3 Wrap Starter Bracelet.  It came with 1 charm and I was able to choose whether it was gold plated, silver or rhodium plated, as I wasn't sure what else I'd be wearing it with I thought the rhodium would be the most versatile of the three.

The lambskin bracelets are super soft and light to wear, a great choice for around the office as it doesn't stop me from typing like my silver charm bracelets can.

As regular readers will know, one usually isn't enough... actually the bracelet I most coveted from the Story range was the incredible Garnet 3 Wrap Bracelet, made up of 5 strings of garnet beads that wrap around your wrist 3 times.  I'd tried this one a long time ago and fallen in love - it comes with a much heftier price tag than the lambskin so I'd decided to save up.

As luck would have it, Endangered Trolls offered a 10% discount a while back in conjunction with one of my favourite shops and coupled with a few vouchers I had plus another online discount on top and I picked up my second Story bracelet much sooner than I'd expected.

All the Wrap Bracelets close via a magnetic clasp and are really easy to manage one handed, at first I was a little nervous as to whether it would come apart but having worn both bracelets extensively since I bought them I've had no such issues.

My third and final choice (for now) is the Olive Green 3 Wrap Bracelet made up of 6 strings (it feels like a rougher leather cord) that wrap around your wrist 3 times.

So three very different bracelets all from the same brand, one advantage of Story is that you can easily link more than one bracelet together and the 3 I have compliment each other quite well.

Whilst I tend to wear the garnet bracelet by itself I've been wearing the black lambskin bracelet with regular trollbeads bracelets, the trollbeads bangle and X by Trollbeads as well as by itself, it really is an incredibly versatile bracelet.

For those of you based in the UK, you can find your nearest shop here.  I've been lucky enough to have a few shops near me so I've been able to go in and try them on first; indeed on my first visit I think I must have tried on most bracelets in the range, but they didn't have any in my size so I left empty handed on that occasion. (Obviously being a great shop they did offer to order in anything I wanted in my size... but I took this as a sign not to plunder my Boiler Fund on that occasion so declined)

Bracelets that wrap around 3 times come in 54cm, 57cm, 60cm and 63cm sizes and as usual I take the smallest size of 54cm whereas most shops seem to stock 57cm as standard.  I was able to buy my starter bracelet direct from the shop but I've had to order all the others online, I could have had the shop do this directly but I'm afraid I was both impatient and as is typical I wanted to take advantage of some vouchers I had and the online specials that are available from time to time!

You can get earrings, necklaces and rings to match and there is a wide range of charms to choose from.  I've decided to start with collecting the bracelets before charms as I actually like the bracelets worn naked without any charms.

Now my biggest decision is do I continue to buy bracelets and pick up that lovely turquoise bracelet in the sale or start on the charms?