This bracelet features 9 mm and 4 mm Akoya Natural Blue Baroque Pearls.

 

 

The arrangement of the 9 mm pearls, K14 white gold, 4 mm pearls, and K14 white gold mirror balls is one of my personal favorites.

I think it is an ideal piece of jewelry, with an elegant sparkle that never feels too flashy.

This bracelet belongs to a series called River Bloom.

The very first River Bloom bracelet was made while I was still working for a pearl company.

 

 

I made it as a wedding gift for a woman who was leaving the web design company that had worked closely with us on the renewal of our website.

When I first met her, she was a newcomer who had only recently joined her company. However, her passionate presentation about redesigning our website deeply impressed both me and the president of our pearl company.

She went on to win the competition against managing directors and presidents of well-known web design companies, and we began working together on the website renewal.

At the time, I was also relatively new to the pearl company.

 

 

Together, we researched and documented the history of pearls, as well as the more than 100-year history of the pearl company I worked for.

We also struggled to understand what the true beauty of pearls really was, learning through the process of photographing them.

We even hired a professional photography company to photograph the pearls for our renewed website.

They confidently told us, “We’ll be finished by noon.”

At 10 p.m., they finally left, saying, “We had no idea photographing pearls would be this difficult. We’re very sorry.”

The website renewal brought noticeable improvements.

 

 

We clearly began receiving more inquiries from people looking for pearl companies and pearl shops.

So when I heard that she would be leaving her company and would no longer be working with us, I was shocked.

We had spent so much time together learning about the true beauty of pearls and their history.

She had also really enjoyed the Twitter account I was running for the pearl company at the time.

River Bloom was the pearl bracelet I made as a farewell and wedding gift for her.

 

 

I designed it with the idea of creating something that even a woman who doesn’t usually wear jewelry could wear comfortably.

Something subtle and never too flashy, yet still beautifully and elegantly sparkling.

Later, I began wearing a River Bloom bracelet myself, and it became one of my everyday favorites.

I continue to make all kinds of bracelets, but I suspect River Bloom will always remain the one I return to.

Sometimes, wearing it brings back memories of when I first encountered pearls.

 

 

And so, although I have made several River Bloom bracelets using 8 mm pearls in the past, this time I decided to make seven bracelets simultaneously using 9 mm pearls.

I sorted a lot of 114 Natural Blue Baroque Akoya pearls according to their shape, luster, and color.

My original plan was to sort them by quality and make seven bracelets in descending order of quality.

However, the result was a little different.

 

 

Although there are some differences in quality, I ended up with seven bracelets that are more a matter of personal preference than a simple ranking.

The original model designation of this bracelet is C.

There is a video of the production process on YouTube, where I refer to this bracelet by that name.

For listing purposes, I have also assigned it the model number 9-002.

What distinguishes bracelet C from the other six is its slightly deeper blue color.

 

 

Some of the pearls have somewhat rough surfaces, but they also have thick nacre. Combined with their deeper blue color, this gives them a rich, substantial appearance.

How should I describe it? Perhaps it’s like a face with strong, deeply defined features. There is something vivid and striking about these pearls.

Pearls with thin nacre do not develop this kind of appearance. The thickness of the nacre changes the way their color is perceived.

Perhaps the difference is something like the carefree smile of a young person compared with the smile of an older person, full of depth and experience.

Young people may use many words to express what they want to say.

 

 

Older people, on the other hand, sometimes convey something meaningful with very few words.

For some reason, I feel like thinking of the thickness of a pearl’s nacre in a similar way.

Now, all seven of these bracelets were photographed on November 1, 2026.

The sun kept appearing and disappearing that day, so I took some photographs on my balcony and others indoors.

Even when the sun was out, it was sometimes partially hidden behind clouds, making the sunlight weaker.

 

 

If you would like to compare this bracelet with any of the others, please don’t hesitate to ask me, “Could you photograph those bracelets side by side on a sunny day?”

But here we are. It’s already November.

There is only one month left until the pearl harvest.

Since I left the pearl company, this will be the third harvest season that I won’t be attending.

Surprisingly, I don’t feel particularly lonely about it. However, I do regret that I won’t be able to see the freshly harvested pearls.

During this final month before the harvest, the Akoya oysters are left undisturbed. Even the surfaces of their shells are not cleaned.

The idea is to encourage a more delicate deposition of nacre, helping the pearls develop beautiful surfaces.

 

 

Of course, things don’t always go as planned.

After all, even a baby can suddenly burst into tears for no apparent reason, no matter how quiet and peaceful everything may be.

Just three seconds will do.

 

 

 

“Please make beautiful pearls.”

Let’s offer a little prayer to the Akoya oysters.

All right, thank you.

 

 

 

🌸Each piece of Flower Jem jewelry is handcrafted using carefully selected Akoya pearls from Japan.

I personally select the pearls for their shape, color, luster, and individual character. I believe that the beauty of pearls goes far beyond perfect roundness. Every pearl has its own unique charm, shaped by nature.

Through Flower Jem, I hope to share not only the beauty of Akoya pearls, but also the stories, craftsmanship, and experiences behind each piece.

 

Started Sorting Pearls: A Simple Guide to a Complex Process

 

Nucleus Insertion in Akoya Pearl Farming Begins This Fiscal Year

 

The Shape of Holding: Baroque Pearls and Imperfect Metalwork

 

 

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