Sun Drying — Akoya Natural Blue Pearl Earrings

Pearl Type: Japanese Akoya Natural Blue Pearls & Akoya Natural Keshi Pearls

Main Pearls: Round, 8.1–8.4 mm

Keshi Pearls: Approximately 3 mm

Pearl Color: Natural Blue (Untreated)

Luster: Strong

Surface: Smooth

Total Length: 9 cm (Approx. 3.54 inches)

Chain: Sterling Silver 925

Earring Findings: Sterling Silver 925

Construction: Keshi pearls and chains connected with 0.4 mm wire

Made in Japan

🌍Important Notice for US Customers

Starting October 15, 2026, Flower Jem will pay US import duties in advance for shipments to the United States.

This means you won’t have to worry about paying import duties when your package arrives.

We hope this makes your shopping experience with Flower Jem even more comfortable and worry-free.

🌸These earrings feature Akoya natural blue pearls and Akoya Keshi pearls.

As usual, I came up with the name for these earrings after completing them.

I remembered how I often saw fish being dried in the sun at the harbor of an island where I used to frequently visit a pearl farm.

Some of the squid being dried would spin around all day on something that looked like a rotating umbrella. Personally, I found the sight rather surreal.

These earrings were made alongside four other pairs that are currently available: Night Sky, Dawn, Marshmallow, and Pudding.

I had originally planned to turn this pair of round pearls into ordinary stud earrings. However, just before making them, I managed to purchase some Akoya Keshi pearls for the first time in quite a while, so I decided to use them right away.

I purchased about 50 cm of Keshi pearls measuring 2.5–3 mm in thickness. But at the pace I make jewelry, I had no idea when I would actually get around to using them, so I decided to use just four of them for now.

Do you like dried fish?

I looked it up online just now and discovered that *himono*, Japanese dried fish, is apparently known in some parts of the world.

Personally, I don’t particularly enjoy dried fish because many varieties have quite a strong, concentrated flavor.

However, when I was a child, my mother and I often ate small dried fish, such as *niboshi*, as snacks.

We would put a few on top of the stove, toast them just enough to give them a little color, and eat them.

As a child, I assumed that dried fish like these were made by machines inside factories. But when I grew up and visited fishing towns, I was surprised to see fish being dried here and there.

I was a little moved to discover that dried fish were still being made using such traditional methods.

And as I mentioned earlier, some were dried on those strange umbrella-like contraptions that spun round and round. I found that sight wonderfully surreal, too.

Once, I wondered, “What do they do when it rains?”

Oh, I almost forgot. One distinctive feature of these earrings is that the Akoya Keshi pearls and chains are connected using 0.4 mm wire.

Passing a chain directly through a pearl is a relatively simple method that doesn’t require much work. However, doing so means the pearl’s drill hole needs to be made slightly larger.

Personally, I’m the kind of person who prefers to avoid enlarging pearl holes.

I believe that keeping drill holes as inconspicuous as possible gives jewelry a more luxurious appearance and prevents it from looking cheap.

To use a wooden table as an example, when two pieces of wood are joined so smoothly that you can barely see where one ends and the other begins, I feel a sense of craftsmanship.

On the other hand, when the joints are clearly visible, you might simply think, “Well, it was cheap, so I guess that’s fine.”

Anyway, when I casually told an AI that I had decided to name these earrings “Sun Drying,” it replied:

“To avoid misunderstandings among overseas customers, you should include a warning explaining that the earrings have no smell and are not edible.”

I quietly closed the AI browser.

Now, as usual, let’s move on to something completely unrelated.

Last Saturday, I went to the Yodogawa Fireworks Festival in Osaka.

Did you go too?

There were quite a few people from overseas there as well.

I was invited by two people I work alongside at my Osaka workspace about twice a week.

At first, I thought that since it was a fireworks festival, we would only be going in the evening. That wouldn’t take too much time away from my pearls, so I figured it would be fine.

However, three days before the festival, I was shocked to hear that we would be going there around noon.

As it turned out, the Yodogawa Fireworks Festival attracts approximately 500,000 people. Apparently, if you don’t head there early, you’ll get caught in terrible traffic.

The riverbank, which is usually almost deserted, had been transformed into something resembling a huge concert venue. Rows and rows of seats stretched across the area, all packed with people.

At concerts and festivals, the women’s toilets often have long queues, while the men’s toilets are usually much less crowded.

But this time, I had to stand in line for ten whole minutes before I could use the toilet.

Ten minutes might not sound very long, but when you desperately need to pee, ten minutes feels like an eternity.

As I looked at the countless men waiting in line, I found myself feeling strangely curious, thinking that every single one of them must be holding it in just like me.

The fireworks lasted exactly one hour.

The display was accompanied by classical music, famous pop songs, and even songs by Queen. We could enjoy the fireworks synchronized with the music.

Before it started, I thought an hour sounded rather long.

But in reality, it felt like only ten minutes.

It went by so quickly that it felt about as long as those ten minutes I had spent waiting for the toilet.

Some of the large fireworks were launched from what seemed like only about 100 meters away, so the sound pressure was incredibly powerful.

Between the beautiful fireworks and the tremendous sound, I felt genuinely shaken. At one point, I found myself trying to hold back tears, even though I couldn’t explain why.

I’m not usually moved to tears simply because something is beautiful.

But as I watched the fireworks fill the night sky, heard the enormous explosions, and felt the vibrations of the sound shaking my clothes, something inside me was deeply stirred, and tears began to well up.

It was a strange feeling.

Or perhaps I’m simply getting older and becoming more emotional.

It might also be because I spend nearly all my time working or making pearl jewelry, and it had been such a long time since I’d experienced something live like that.

If you haven’t been to a live performance or concert recently, give it a try. Trust me on this one.

Watching videos online or on your phone is nice, but experiencing something live is wonderful too.

“You don’t have to tell me that. I already know.”

My apologies.

And with that said, if you’re going to a concert or live performance, perhaps wearing some pearls would be a good idea, too.

🌸These earrings were made alongside five other pairs of earrings.

The entire creation process was recorded on video without any editing. You can see the pearls in

their natural, unpolished state behind the scenes and get a closer look at their actual quality.

In the videos, the six pairs of earrings are labeled as follows:

A – Marshmallow
B – Night Sky
C – Dawn
D – Pudding
E – Sun-Drying
F – Thumbs Up

Part 1

Part 2

Here is a 48-second video comparing all six pairs of earrings.

And here is a behind-the-scenes video showing how all six pairs of earrings were photographed for their product listings and how the videos were edited.

Subscribe for Pearl Stories🐾

Receive occasional letters from my workshop —
stories about pearls, silverwork, Lulu the little dog, and quiet life in Japan.

As a thank you, you’ll get a secret code for 30% off —
usable every time you order, only here, not on Etsy.

I don’t send spam. Just little notes filled with love and pearls 💫

You can read our privacy policy for details.