...Still Space to Adore! Thomas Sabo Karma

I've been considering the Karma range from Thomas Sabo ever since Abi brought my attention to it back in April; and now I've finally taken the plunge...

Told you I'd blown my bead budget all to hell this month didn't I?!

The Bracelet
I started with the blackened bracelet, taking a chance on the size as the opportunity was to buy preloved rather than new.  I take a 17cm Troll Bracelet that I normally wear with a 2cm lock, so 19cm in total which sits quite loose - unless it's an all amber bracelet with big ambers.  For Karma I'm wearing an 18cm bracelet (overall length) as the beads are a lot smaller than Troll, so I'm assuming I won't need quite as much length.

We'll see how my Mars Logic fares as I fill up the bracelet!

The lock is a clasp that one end of the bracelet is permanently affixed to and the other end slots in when open, and when you close the clasp it's locked in.

It looks like a bead in it's own right and for me, I love that the branding is nice and subtle, it does say Thomas Sabo but it doesn't scream it at you, it's more of a whisper.  I really don't like overt branding on jewellery but this is definitely within my acceptable limit.

A nice touch for those of us who like to fiddle with our beads whilst wearing them is that the clasp can spin freely where it's attached to the bracelet, so it not only looks like a bead but also rolls like a bead when it's "on" the chain.

The Beads
As lovely as that in shop experience is, I've started down the preloved route with my beads too.

The Matt Black Obsidian bead often comes with the bracelet as a promotional offer.  I intend to buy a lot more of these; as unlike when I started with Troll and it was a case of Ooh shiny! I want that one... this time around starting with a new brand I'm going to think about my 1st bracelet design before I get too carried away!

Karma Bracelet Display at Hugh Rice (May 2014)

The Obsidian also comes in shiny, faceted and carved versions (see the display bracelet above) and is an absolute staple; this will go great with the black rubber X by Trollbeads in a stack and I'm going to use them to tie my design together.

The beautiful, heavily detailed all over, Om bead was always top of my Karma Wishlist, so I was extremely happy to be able to pick this one up immediately.  It's just the one for now, but don't be surprised if this turns out to be a multiple buy in future!

So out of 3 preloved beads, 2 were already from my wishlist!

The third bead, White Lotus, is from the latest collection.  It's a very bling bead without being over the top.  More whispering and less shouting to continue the metaphor, it features a large white zircona surrounded by blacked silver in a lovely pattern with even more bling inset in the silver itself.

This bead comes in 3 other versions, and whilst White Lotus wasn't on my wishlist for Karma, the Black Onyx version was, yep, you guessed it - called Black Lotus.  

Although it was the onyx version that was top of my wishlist, I did like the White Lotus when I saw the live photos.  I ummed and ahhed about adding this one as I'd already spent a fair bit even at preloved prices; then I decided to just go for the hat-trick as I like my beads in odd numbers!

Finally come the stoppers, which here I am using multiples of as spacers!  Like most stoppers, they have a rubber inset to keep them in a set place on the chain.

The stoppers come in several designs and Karma also boasts a skulls version in the range which are slightly bigger; so along with several of the skull themed beads they are most certainly on my Karma Wishlist!

Silver Skulls Karma Bead - top of my Karma Skulls Wishlist

In Summary
Every time I visit a jewellers that stock Karma I've been leaving little telltale signs of drool on their cabinets.

Karma Display at Hugh Rice (May 2014)

My original plan had been that I'd leave Karma until Christmas, given I'd waited this long, and we had the new collections from Redbalifrog, Trollbeads and X by Trollbeads to come.  But, as all us jewellery addicts know, the best laid plans are often put aside when an opportunity presents itself at a great preloved price!

I've been absolutely delighted with Karma so far, it's everything I hoped it would be.

Now that I've started, I've invited friends to take bets
on how long it will be before I give in
to my compulsion to finish my Karma bracelet...

Feel free to join in - no prizes, it's just for fun!

p.s. thanks to Alison for the inspiration for the title, she actually meant to type "still space to add more" in a message but I liked it with original typos and stole it for the blog!