Pandora opens $150 million Vietnam factory, its first outside Thailand

Pandora opened a $150 million factory in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday, its first production site outside Thailand and its largest manufacturing facility. The company describes it as the world's largest fine jewellery crafting facility. The plant is the brand's fourth worldwide.

The Vietnam factory, built on a 7.5-hectare site in the business and manufacturing hub, will lift Pandora's overall manufacturing capacity by around 50%. It is expected to employ 7,000 workers once fully operational, and the company says it will support demand across its global business rather than serve specific export markets.

From 15% to a third of capacity

Chief executive Berta de Pablos-Barbier told Reuters the new plant will start at around 15% of global capacity and reach a third of the total once at full capacity in 2030. "We're building this facility for the next decade, not the next quarter," she said.

The plant can produce up to 60 million pieces of jewellery a year, set against the 112 million pieces Pandora sold in 2025. Until now the company has made everything in Thailand, where it operates three factories. Vietnam is the first site outside that country.

De Pablos-Barbier, who took charge on 1 January, said Vietnam stood out among potential locations for its skilled workforce and long jewellery-making tradition, as well as its infrastructure and a supportive business environment. The choice also spreads the company's exposure beyond a single production country.

Pandora is the world's biggest jewellery brand by items sold, known for customisable charm bracelets, rings, earrings and necklaces. Founded in Denmark in 1982, its silver charm bracelets start at $80 and the United States is its biggest market.

A hedge against silver swings

The new factory will play a key role in Pandora's plans to expand production of platinum-plated jewellery as it diversifies beyond its traditional focus on silver. The company says this reduces its exposure to wild swings in the silver market.

Asked about trade-related uncertainties, including the possibility of higher US tariffs on goods made in Vietnam, de Pablos-Barbier said that when volatility happens the company focuses on operational efficiencies and integration across the business. She did not say how tariffs would change the plan.

All silver and gold used at the site will be recycled, and the facility has achieved LEED Gold certification, operating solely on renewable electricity. Pandora is also exploring additional renewable energy options, including on-site solar generation and a potential solar farm partnership.

The environmental choices echo other luxury manufacturing openings we have covered. When Loro Piana opened its fossil fuel free knitwear hub in Ghemme, Italy, renewable energy was central. Pandora's Vietnam site carries similar hallmarks, applied to a far larger volume of output.

Every piece Pandora sold worldwide has so far come from Thailand, so the new site is a structural change rather than a marginal expansion. The Vietnamese plant also becomes the company's largest single facility, in a network that now has four factories.

We profile Pandora as a Danish jewellery brand built on charm bracelets and personalisation, and this opening changes the geography of that story. Its craft has been concentrated in one country, and a second manufacturing nation alters the supply chain picture we hold for the brand.

The scale also signals ambition on demand. A factory planned to reach a third of capacity by the end of the decade suggests Pandora expects growth beyond current volumes. For a brand selling charms from $80, that runs through both silver and the platinum plating to come.

The chief executive tied the investment to the long run. Building for the next decade rather than the next quarter means absorbing near-term tariff noise while integrating a four-factory network, a different posture from chasing the cheapest labour market.

The announcement does not detail phased hiring or the split of the $150 million between construction and equipment. What is stated is the end state: 7,000 workers, up to 60 million pieces a year, and full capacity by 2030.

Pandora has not said how the Vietnam output will be allocated across its markets, only that it will serve global demand. Reuters reported the company is also exploring on-site solar generation, which would add to the renewable electricity the plant already uses.

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Image: FashionNetwork