River Bloom 9-004

 

 

This bracelet is made with 9 mm and 4 mm Natural Blue Baroque Akoya pearls, along with 2 mm K14 white gold mirror balls.

It is not particularly flashy, but it has a certain charming, endearing quality that reminds me of little flowers blooming along the edge of a stream. That is why I named it River Bloom.

And it is not just cute. It is also very practical.

From my years of experience serving customers, I have found that quite a few people avoid bracelets because they are difficult to put on and take off.

This bracelet, like almost all the jewelry at Flower Jem, uses a clip-type clasp.

 

 

Personally, I really like this type of clasp. It has a simple appearance, and it is extremely easy to fasten and unfasten.

Magnetic clasps can come undone unexpectedly, while ordinary lobster clasps are not particularly easy to operate, especially when you are rushing to get ready to go out.

This clip-type clasp really is simple to use, and in my experience, it stays securely fastened even during activities such as tennis or golf.

Well, the clasp is important, but of course, the pearls are what really matter.

The 9 mm pearls used in this bracelet were selected from a lot of 114 pearls, which were eventually made into seven River Bloom bracelets.

 

 

All 114 pearls were of almost equivalent quality, but when I examined them more closely and sorted them further, some differences in quality inevitably emerged.

The pearls in this No. 004 bracelet have quite smooth surfaces, although a few of them have small indentations known as pinprick blemishes, or wounds.

When selecting pearls from the original lot of 114, I naturally give priority to those without such wounds and those with shapes closer to round.

 

 

By the time I reach the fourth bracelet, pearls with these characteristics become a little more common.

However, these pearls were ranked lower in the selection process because of those wounds. Their luster and the smoothness of their surfaces are by no means inferior to the higher-ranked pearls.

Even very small wounds that are only visible when examining a pearl closely can reduce its price.

Yet from a little distance, such wounds are often difficult to notice with the naked eye.

 

 

Weak luster, on the other hand, can be noticeable even from a distance. Wounds are not necessarily so obvious.

Some people are unwilling to compromise on any wounds, whether they are immediately noticeable or not.

Others are happy to accept a few wounds if it means paying a lower price.

Perhaps this is simply a matter of personal values.

To compare it to a strawberry shortcake:

 

 

“I absolutely must have a strawberry, even if there is a little less whipped cream.”

“As long as there is plenty of whipped cream, I don’t mind if there are no strawberries.”

“I don’t mind a slightly smaller cake, but I want three strawberries.”

“I don’t like sweet things, so I don’t want any cake at all.”

Something like that, perhaps.

 

 

The important thing is that everyone has a limited budget.

If our budgets were unlimited, we could simply choose whichever pearls we liked.

That sounds like a wonderful thing, but personally, I suspect it would be a world without much room for dreams.

I feel that it is precisely in the space between our ideals and reality that dreams, imagination, and perhaps even some of our reasons for living can be found.

“That’s just because you’re poor.”

Perhaps.

 

 

But perhaps not.

Anyway, I have wandered off the subject.

When choosing pearls, it may be important to understand clearly what you are looking for in them.

The thickness of the nacre, luster, shape, color, absence of wounds, evenness of color, size, and so on.

Personally, what I look for in pearls is strong luster, thick nacre, and blue color.

In exchange, I am willing to accept some wounds and irregularities in shape.

 

 

This is because compromising on these two characteristics can dramatically reduce the price.

And the money saved by accepting those imperfections allows me to choose pearls with stronger luster.

Above all, I am looking for pearls as gemstones.

If a pearl has strong luster and thick nacre, I can happily accept a somewhat pale blue color. In fact, I often find such pearls particularly attractive.

Some people, however, value a perfectly round shape more highly than luster or nacre thickness.

 

 

For the past hundred years, the pearl industry has been preaching the gospel of “Round Pearls Are the Only True Pearls.”

That belief has become an almost unshakable standard of value.

And that is perfectly valid, too.

But what matters most is what you personally want from a pearl.

 

 

I imagine we all have our own priorities even when buying everyday things such as bread, eggs, and coffee beans.

In my case, I drink a lot of coffee every day, so I buy inexpensive coffee beans.

But I love eggs, so I am happy to pay a little more for large ones.

“Your comparisons really are terribly shallow and cheap, aren’t they?”

I think so myself.

 

 

Anyway, returning to the bracelet.

This No. 004 bracelet, made from the original lot of 114 pearls, ranks fourth in quality among the seven River Bloom bracelets, and its price is slightly lower than that of the highest-ranked bracelet.

The reason is that some of the pearls have small, pinprick-like wounds.

Nevertheless, the surfaces are smooth, and the luster is certainly not weak.

On a five-point scale, I would give it around 3.5.

In addition to the video here, there is also a video introducing this bracelet on YouTube, so if you are interested, please look for it.

 

 

Incidentally, I am writing this article in early November.

For the past several years, Japan has hardly seemed to have a proper autumn. It has felt as though summer suddenly turns into winter.

But this year, we actually had a proper autumn.

And since around yesterday, the temperature has dropped so much that it feels as though winter has begun.

Apparently, my parents have already brought out their electric blanket, and our dog Lulu seems to be enjoying the benefits.

In the old days, dogs often lived outdoors through both the heat of summer and the cold of winter.

These days, however, it seems perfectly normal for dogs to spend almost all their time indoors, apart from their daily walks.

When I was in elementary school, we had a dog named Pupu.

Late at night, Pupu would often bark toward the mountain behind our house.

 

 

Sometimes my father would get angry when she barked.

Looking back now, I think it would have been better if I had simply left both Pupu and my angry father alone.

But instead, on those cold nights, I would go outside to sit beside Pupu and, with tears in my eyes, beg her,

“Pupu, please don’t bark in the middle of the night.”

But Pupu would continue barking toward the mountain, almost as if she were saying,

“I’m the one protecting this house!”

She was probably reacting to the sounds of foxes or raccoon dogs moving around somewhere in the mountain.

About once every five years, when the weather starts getting cold, I remember Pupu from those days.

And this time, of all possible moments, the memory came back to me while I was writing a product description.

By the way, the names of all the dogs we have had over the years are Pupu, Pepe, Doro, Gon, Choro, and now Lulu.

This really has absolutely nothing to do with the bracelet anymore.

 

 

And since I have already wandered so far from the subject, let me tell you something else.

Recently, one of my favorite novelists, Ryu Murakami, passed away.

His first novel was *Almost Transparent Blue*, a strange and fascinating book written in the first person, yet with a perspective that feels almost like that of a third-party observer.

I simply do not have the literary talent to express what makes his writing so extraordinary.

Until I was 23 years old, I had never read a single book.

But after discovering his novels, I became completely captivated by literature.

There is something strange about the death of someone whose presence you had always taken for granted.

Life seems long, and life seems short.

 

The entire process of turning 114 individual 9 mm pearls into seven bracelets was captured on video.

But I honestly can’t recommend watching it. It looks terribly boring.

Well, maybe watching just a little bit wouldn’t hurt.

 

In truth, I don’t really know which it is.

The one thing I do know is that five minutes in the morning feels about as long as an hour at night.

People often talk about an era in which we will live to be a hundred years old.

And if nothing unfortunate happens to it, this bracelet will probably still exist a hundred years from now, just as it is today.

If possible, I would like it to continue shining beside someone for many years to come.

And with that rather forced attempt to bring the conversation back to pearls, I think it is time for me to say goodbye.

May you find a wonderful pearl that is just right for you.

 

 

🌸Explore the River Bloom Collection here.

River Bloom 9-001

River Bloom 9-002

River Bloom 9-003

 

 

 

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