K18 Grace in Motion

These earrings are the K18 gold version of Grace in Motion.

They were made in gold at the customer’s request.

 

 

The pearls are perfectly round and have a strong luster, yet it is also the soft and gentle kind of luster that is characteristic of pearls.

At the customer’s request, the length from the post to the bottom of the pearl was set at 4.5 cm.

It may be a good length—neither too long nor too short.

However, preferences regarding the chain length of this type of dangling earring seem to vary considerably from person to person.

Hairstyle also affects how the earrings look, and I have even had customers request a length that almost reaches their shoulders.

 

 

For that reason, when I make earrings like these on my own initiative, I simply choose a length that seems appropriate.

Afterward, I often adjust the length according to the customer’s request.

Now, today is July 22, and the hot days continue here in Japan.

In some regions, temperatures have exceeded 40°C.

In Osaka and Kobe, where I live, the daily high temperatures have remained at around 32°C.

 

 

The thermometer in my room has a function that records the lowest and highest temperatures. Looking at it now, I can see that the highest recorded temperature is 42.8°C.

It seems that this room becomes extremely hot during the daytime.

I love summer, but I am also prone to developing heat rash.

Because of this, wearing a watch or bracelet causes a rash to appear around my wrists.

Since my hands are visible during my livestreams, the rash is also shown on camera.

I generally do not worry too much about appearances, but it still does not look particularly good, so I am trying to avoid wearing bracelets and watches as much as possible.

Although I dislike using medicine, I recently bought an ointment for heat rash.

I bought it because I would rather avoid livestreaming with heat rash visible on my hands.

 

 

Now, I have an acquaintance who knows someone working at a jewelry store who also has experience in metalworking. For some time, I had been telling my acquaintance that I would like to meet someone like that.

Recently, my acquaintance had an opportunity to meet this experienced metalworker, whom I will call A, and apparently spoke with him briefly.

“So your acquaintance runs a shop called Flower Jem? Does he exhibit at the jewelry trade shows held in Tokyo? Is this the jewelry fitting he made? Why isn’t this part closed? Normally, it should be closed. Does the Flower Jem person do his metalworking with a laser? Does he have all the necessary machinery and equipment?”

 

 

Apparently, my acquaintance was questioned in this rather overbearing manner.

According to A’s way of thinking, it seems that exhibiting at international jewelry trade shows is something every jewelry business should naturally do. However, even the company where I previously worked never exhibited at one.

In fact, in recent years, many Japanese pearl companies have been withdrawing from these exhibitions, while pearl businesses operated by Chinese companies have increasingly taken their place.

The exhibition fees are extremely high, yet most of the visitors now seem to attend with the mindset of retail customers.

It appears that these exhibitions are no longer the kind of place where companies can develop new wholesale business relationships as they once did.

 

 

A also saw one of the pendant fittings that I had made.

He regarded its shape as unconventional and apparently said something along the lines of, “Normally, there is no design like this.”

Even though I am only running a small business by myself, he also asked my acquaintance, “Does he use a laser for his metalworking?” as though using a laser were completely standard.

There is no realistic way that an individual craftsman like me could afford such expensive laser equipment.

Apparently, A is simply the kind of person who always wants to establish a position of superiority over others.

According to my acquaintance, A is normally a calm and gentle person, but his attitude changed completely once the subject of metalworking came up.

 

 

Metalworking is A’s area of expertise, so perhaps, from his perspective as a professional, it was irritating to hear that someone resembling an amateur had started doing a little metalworking on his own.

From my point of view, having an experienced metalworker nearby would be extremely helpful because I could learn from that person.

However, I have begun to feel that A may be a rather difficult person to deal with on a personal level.

It is not uncommon to meet people whose first response is to deny what others do or say, or to find fault with it. That is their way of living, and it should be respected.

However, as long as I do not meet such people, there is no problem at all.

On the other hand, there are also people who respond positively even when someone makes a mistake.

Some people share the disappointment of another person’s failure, sympathize with them, and stay beside them while thinking together about what could be done differently next time.

I would certainly like to study metalworking, but while writing this article, I have decided that I would rather not meet someone who says things such as, “Normally, there is no design like this.”

These days, countless metalworking processes can be watched on YouTube and Instagram.

I think I will gain more experience in metalworking first, and only then ask a so-called professional to examine my work.

Perhaps asking a professional to teach me before I have accumulated any real experience myself would be doing things in slightly the wrong order.

Now, this discussion has become completely unrelated to the earrings, but I believe the photographs and videos will show you just how beautiful Grace in Motion is.

Since I have already wandered away from the subject, let me add one more thing.

Since around June, the pace of my pearl work has slowed considerably.

A trip with my mother, motorcycle repairs, and cleaning our family grave were all relatively small matters unrelated to pearls, but they occasionally took away some of the time and days that I would normally have spent working with pearls.

However, my usual rhythm has been disrupted far more than the actual amount of time that was lost.

 

 

Until recently, the entire sequence of making pearl jewelry, livestreaming the process, writing articles, posting on Instagram and YouTube, and listing products on Etsy and my website flowed smoothly.

Now, however, all of these activities feel disconnected and out of sync.

It feels like driving a manual-transmission car again after a long absence and being unable to make the car move smoothly.

Personally, I find this situation quite difficult.

 

 

Still, with my naturally optimistic personality, I intend to overcome it by telling myself, “Surely, this experience will also prove important in some way.”

Please take your time and enjoy.