Hello,
This is Flower Jem.
Today, I’d like to share the creation process of the eighth pendant in my Hold Series.
Until now, the pendants in this series were made from rounded silver rods. But this time, I decided to use a flat silver bar.
Why? I happened to find a piece of silver I had set aside while trying to make a ring. It was a round rod I had hammered flat.
Because the shape was different from what I usually use, I found the process especially enjoyable.
As I worked with the flat piece, I sensed a certain fragility and delicateness in it. So I preserved that impression in the final design.
The core concept behind the Hold Series is “embrace.”
I find an embrace in nature’s interconnected relationships: between pearls and Akoya oysters, between oysters and the sea, the sea and mountains, the mountains and leaves, and leaves and rain. These elements support each other, and in their mutual dependency, I feel something akin to an embrace.
This series simplifies that natural chain into the symbolic pairing of pearls and leaves. As a double meaning, I also see this relationship as one between a mother and child.
Whether we remember it or not, most of us were once held in the arms of our mothers as newborns, wrapped in love. This pendant is meant to evoke that image—a mother embracing her child.
As we grow older, some may become distant from their mothers. Others grow fonder, or remain close, or continue to rebel. The feelings vary widely.
But regardless of how we feel now, most of us spent our earliest days in our mother’s arms. We may have held her warm, soft hands, gone shopping together, or walked hand in hand to kindergarten.
We often hear that mothers are strong and great. But at the core, they are women. Even the most dedicated mothers likely faced moments of vulnerability—whether emotional, physical, or financial. Each carried their own form of fragility.
Yet they continued to protect and nurture their children 24/7. Even if the child didn’t study. Even if they felt disliked.
Such unconditional, selfless love may be considered a force of nature—just like the Akoya oyster nurturing a pearl, or the sea nurturing the oyster. Perhaps it’s a bit of a stretch, but that’s how I see it.
Through the image of pearls and leaves, the Hold Series alludes to the blessings of nature and the quiet, unwavering love of a mother for her child.
Even if that memory fades, most of us once rested in our mother’s arms.
I often forget this when talking to my mother. But maybe she remembers more clearly.
“You were just crying in my arms not long ago,” she might think.
Even the Akoya oyster might say:
“Who do you think gave you that beautiful luster? Not long ago, you were just a bare little nucleus inside me. And now look at you—so baroque!”
There’s no end to what I could say about the concept. I think you get the picture.
Now it’s July. Over the past couple of weeks, my weekday job has kept me very busy, and I haven’t had much time to work on pearls.
Even Saturdays are taken up by work, so video editing has fallen behind.
I packed up my heavy metalworking tools in a backpack and brought them from Kobe to Osaka by motorcycle, hoping to do some work during the week. But I never used them and brought them back to Kobe today. Weekday nights are simply too exhausting.
Although I haven’t been able to run my pearl business the way I’d like to, the number of visitors to my website is steadily increasing. It’s quite a surprise.
Some people seem to have trouble sending me emails through the website, though. I want to fix that, but it’s on the back burner for now.
For the time being, I’ll continue to rely on Etsy.
I’ve also been running Instagram ads regularly, and they’re quite effective. More than the pearls themselves, many people say they enjoy reading what I write. That makes me very happy.
When I started Etsy, there were several customers who told me they bought pearls because they enjoyed my writing.
At first, I didn’t know what to include in pearl descriptions. I could write about luster, nacre thickness, or size.
But things like harvest dates or who performed the nucleation, or even the parent oysters, aren’t very helpful in a product listing.
Whenever I tried to explain pearls, it started sounding like a tech manual. It didn’t feel like retail.
I didn’t pay much attention to typical retail phrases like “a perfect gift,” “for Mother’s Day,” or “a lucky charm.”
So I started writing diary-like entries instead.
Of course, it’s important to know what kind of pearl it is. But I also thought it was important to show who is behind the product.
I personally prefer to buy from someone who feels genuine, even if the price is a bit higher.
If you live in an apartment and your neighbor is noisy, your reaction depends a lot on whether you know them. It’s the same with shopping. Or even noise.
So I just kept writing about whatever came to mind and used those as product descriptions.
During the pandemic, one customer said it felt like taking a trip to Japan. They couldn’t visit, so my page gave them that sense of travel.
Pearls are sold everywhere, and many stores carry similar items. In such cases, I want to buy from a shop with a seller I resonate with.
Speaking of apartments, when I started living in my Osaka apartment during weekdays, I made a point to greet everyone I saw. At first, most didn’t respond. But after a year, they started greeting me first.
Today, as I straddled my motorcycle to head back to Kobe, the man parked next to me said, “It’s hot today, huh?”
He was once very cold and unfriendly. But now he smiles. He has a charming smile.
It’s such a small thing, but getting that greeting made me feel deeply happy. In my heart, I whispered, “This is Hold Series…”
Sometimes, in those simple greetings between strangers, there is pure goodwill and affection.
Because we have no other connection, there’s no overthinking—just a light, sincere greeting.
If it were my boss, someone I see every day, I’d read too much into it. Are they in a bad mood? Did I mess something up?
As always, my thoughts drift all over the place.
Yes, I’m still doing a lot of metalwork lately.
I kept telling myself I needed to make more necklaces and bracelets too. But someone actually bought a necklace after seeing this pendant.
So maybe this pendant serves as a good entry point into Flower Jem.
I’ve also realized it’s hard to reflect my thoughts in necklaces or bracelets. I can change the thread color or the clasp, but ultimately, it’s all about the pearl’s quality.
With pendants, though, I can more easily express what I feel. That’s why I love making them.
Having necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and hand-crafted pendants makes Flower Jem a fun shop for me.
It’s been an hour since I started writing this.
There are still many things to do, so I’ll stop here.
I plan to send this out not only as video subtitles, but also as an email to my subscribers.
Some might be thinking, “Hey, I subscribed but never got an email!”
And when you finally get one, it’s me saying I’m too busy to make jewelry.
Japan just had its second-shortest rainy season on record—about two weeks. Now it’s around 35°C every day.
How’s the weather where you are?
Let’s make sure to embrace ourselves and take care of our bodies.
And next, let’s be kind to others.
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