Quiet Blue Core

This is a natural blue Akoya pearl necklace.
It was created as a custom order based on a client’s request.

The necklace features 8 mm natural blue baroque Akoya pearls, with 2 mm silver balls placed between each pearl. Until now, I have frequently used K18 white gold mirror balls in Flower Jem pieces. However, this client specifically requested silver balls instead of the mirror balls. I have been using mirror balls for such a long time—ever since my days working at a pearl company—that I had rarely given much thought to other types of fittings. Since these are made of silver, the cost can also be kept significantly lower than white gold.

Once I actually used them, the necklace took on a completely different atmosphere, with a cooler and more restrained impression than my previous designs. As for the blue Akoya pearls themselves, they have strong luster, thick nacre, and smooth surfaces, as expected. Yet, by widening the presence of the metal elements, it felt as if I was seeing a new expression of these pearls for the first time.

It felt similar to the moment when you see a close friend speaking with their mother for the first time, revealing an expression you have never noticed before. The same feeling applies if you imagine seeing that same friend standing at a bank counter, responding politely and formally—an unfamiliar side profile that makes you realize there is more to them than you thought.

I have a fair amount of knowledge and experience when it comes to Akoya pearls. However, when it comes to jewelry design, my education and refinement are still far from sufficient. In many cases, clients who love pearls own far more jewelry than I do and are often more knowledgeable about design. In those situations, the client provides the design idea, and I provide the pearls and the technical work, and together we complete a single piece.

It may sound like a simplistic way to put it, but it is essentially a form of collaboration. This kind of shared process can be deeply engaging and fulfilling in life, whether in work, hobbies, household tasks, or sports.

Some may say, “Is that really acceptable for someone who sells pearl jewelry?” That is a fair question. However, the fact that my experience and refinement in design are limited is simply the truth. Titles and positions do matter, but I want to choose what seems to be the best possible option at each moment.

I have written at length, but in short, I hope to receive custom orders from a wide range of clients. By accumulating many different ideas, I can continue to create a wider variety of pieces.

And now, an announcement. As mentioned in many product descriptions, I would like to invite you to subscribe to the Flower Jem newsletter. I can almost hear someone saying, “But it’s not sent regularly!” That is true—the pace of delivery has gradually slowed.

The newsletter subscription form is located at the very bottom of the Flower Jem homepage. When you enter your email address there, you will receive a coupon code. This coupon has no expiration date and no limit on the number of times it can be used. Flower Jem also sells on Etsy, but selling through Etsy involves various fees. When you purchase directly through Flower Jem, those fees do not apply to me, and I return that difference to my clients in the form of the coupon.

The newsletter itself contains articles centered on pearls, along with notes from my daily life. Occasionally, it also includes inside perspectives from Kobe, the city of pearls. All articles are written exactly as thoughts come to me at the moment. I am not able to write polished or stylish prose.

I personally love novels. In recent years, I have not been able to make much time for reading, but from my twenties through my early thirties, I read about one hundred books a year. Most of them were novels I had already read before, revisited again and again. I am especially drawn to stories that put into words the subtle emotional shifts in ordinary daily life—feelings that even the characters themselves may not be fully aware of.

Well, this is supposed to be a product description, and I seem to have wandered far from the topic. In any case, this was a recommendation to subscribe to the newsletter.

Please take your time, and enjoy.

The production process of this necklace was live-streamed on YouTube.
The video is completely unedited—perhaps unfriendly to viewers in that sense—but it allows you to see the making process exactly as it is, without anything hidden or polished away.