Hello, this is Flower Jem.
We are already in the middle of November, and the autumn colors have deepened before I even noticed.
A few days ago, I visited a flower shop that recently opened near my home.
It is a very unusual shop that sells only white flowers.
The owner told me that reaching the decision to work exclusively with white blooms involved many struggles and moments of doubt.
When I think about this in terms of pearls, I cannot help but feel moved—so much so that it nearly brings me to tears. The history and the stance of that shop touched me deeply.
I had assumed it had been open for about half a year, but it turns out it has already been two years.
I sometimes wonder if, in the future, I could run a shop using only blue pearls.
But realistically, since I also work with many white pearls, that may be difficult to achieve.
Meanwhile, custom orders continue to come in, and I have been extremely busy.
It feels unlikely that I can update my newsletter or blog anytime soon, so I am writing this short update as a way of showing that I am still alive and doing my best.
Here is some recent personal news:
I parked my motorcycle in a Kobe municipal parking lot and only afterward realized that I had forgotten my wallet.
That particular facility doesn’t accept any digital payments—something I rarely use anyway.
The fee was just around three dollars, but I had no cash with me.
The attendant looked at me with a rather exasperated expression and said, “So… when can you bring the money back?” and let me out.
Since it was close to my home, I returned to pay about thirty minutes later.
That day, I had gone out to ship some pearls at the post office. When I arrived just before closing, I suddenly realized again that I didn’t have my wallet.
I hardly ever use digital payment apps, so I was incredibly nervous while paying with my phone.
Even in Japan, where digitalization tends to be slow, many elderly people—who barely use smartphones—now use electronic payments.
Yet I remain quite old-fashioned and mostly rely on cash. The idea of paying with my phone still scares me.
“What if I make a mistake?” “What if it doesn’t go through?”
Even as I write this, I think to myself, “What a timid person I am.”
Changing the topic—
I was browsing Instagram earlier, looking at posts from other pearl sellers.
One post in particular caught my attention.
It featured a pearl necklace with pearls that had rough surfaces covered with a white coating—something secreted by Akoya oysters when they are unwell, instead of forming proper nacre.
The pearls looked like they were made of tiny white sugar cubes.
The caption described them as “high-luster Akoya pearls.”
At the pearl company where I used to work, those would be categorized as “pearls that must never be sold.”
Yet in this shop, half of the necklace was made of pearls and the other half of chunky chain links. It seemed to be a popular item they kept restocking.
This made me realize something important:
No matter what kind of pearl it is, if the seller sees beauty in it and chooses to offer it—and if someone loves it enough to buy it—then it has value.
Saying “Those are defective pearls” creates nothing.
We are the ones deciding they’re defects, based only on our own standards.
These sellers are finding value in pearls that others would dismiss.
As we get older, our own experience can start to strangle us without us realizing it.
“The way I’ve lived until now” becomes a weight on our shoulders.
I want to stay as flexible as possible, open to new perspectives and new things.
The Work I’m Currently Immersed In (Custom Orders)
Still, selling pearls with no luster and a white coating—like tiny potatoes—would be extremely difficult for me.
In other posts, I often see phrases like “a one-of-a-kind baroque pearl.”
I’ve used this expression many times myself, and it’s extremely common, so I plan to avoid it from now on.
There are so many “one-of-a-kinds” that they no longer feel one-of-a-kind.
Though I admit this might simply be my slightly twisted personality.
I also saw someone insisting that “unless the blue is very deep, it doesn’t count as natural blue.”
That is a matter of personal preference, so it’s not something anyone else should criticize.
But seeing comments like that makes me want to go out of my way to find the most beautiful light blue pearl.
I’m a lover of natural blues too, so maybe I naturally want to rebel a little.
Deep blues and shallow blues are both beautiful! That’s how I truly feel.
I want to quietly find a stunning shallow blue and feel satisfied in my own small way.
It is now 12:40 a.m.
I should sleep soon so I can do pearl work tomorrow night.
I brought some findings and pearls with me to Osaka this week as well.
Days, weeks, and years pass so quickly.
Good night, and have a wonderful day to those of you living on the other side of the world.