The Culture of Pearls - a blog about all things pearls

Powerful and Pretty Pearl Jewellery Pieces for the Woman of Today

March 6, 2021 Reema Farooqui Comments 0 Comment

Bonhams’ Celebrates International Women’s Day with its Pearls Online Jewellery Auction March 8th is International Women’s Day and what better way to recognise it than with an auction exclusively featuring pearl jewellery pieces. Bonhams Auction House’s Powerful & Pretty: Pearls Online sale from March 8th through the 12th, honours women and their countless achievements, in and out of the spotlight, with the timeless power and beauty of pearls. International Women’s Day is a day to commemorate the struggles of women,…

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The Colourful Gems of the Islands of Fiji

March 2, 2021 Reema Farooqui Comments 2 comments

A Conversation with Claude Prevost, Owner and Founder at Civa Fiji Pearl Farm In the pristine waters off the Fiji Islands, the pearl-producing Pinctada Margaritifera mollusk flourishes. Just like its cousin, the “black-lipped” Tahitian oyster, the Fiji oyster has been successfully cultivated at pearl farms in Fiji, especially over the past two decades. The Fiji cultured pearls are one of the rarest pearls produced through pearl cultivation, because as the name suggests, the oyster is native to the waters around…

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Are Virtual Try On Apps Permanently Redefining Jewellery Retail Space?

February 23, 2021 Reema Farooqui Comments 0 Comment

Last year in May, when Chaumet launched its Augmented Reality (AR) filter on Instagram and Snapchat, all social media was inundated with images of people trying on tiaras in conventional and sometimes not-so-conventional ways. Later, in summer, Bulgari’s virtual unveiling of its The Baroko High Jewellery collection came with an exclusive, invitation-only app for smart phones, which allowed users to virtually put on a jewel from the collection and save their image as a selfie. Almost half a year later,…

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When Jewels Speak the Language of Love

February 3, 2021 Reema Farooqui Comments 0 Comment

Valentine’s Day gifts that say it all! With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, finding beautiful and meaningful gifts requires planning and patience. While chocolates and red roses have their own place in gift giving traditions, a gift of jewellery says so much more. Expressing your love with jewellery, to me, is a revelation of who you are, as a person and as a person who loves. What you choose for your loved one is a declaration, in the form…

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A Conversation with Apurva Kothari, Founder and Jewellery Designer at SAVAAB Jewels

January 29, 2021 Reema Farooqui Comments 2 comments

Exquisite High Jewellery, Wearable Art “Inspired by Heritage, Fueled by Legacy, Carried Forward by Innovation” is how SAVAAB Jewels describe their ethos, and this is the absolute, unvarnished truth about this high jewellery brand. SAVAAB Jewels is the modern realization of Indian heritage, the family legacy of the founder, Apurva Kothari, and jewellery craftsmanship techniques of the twenty-first century. While their pieces do take their inspiration from India’s storied past, the story they tell is very contemporary and unmistakably international…

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Looking Forward to a Year of Strength and Hopefulness

January 19, 2021 Reema Farooqui Comments 0 Comment

Pantone’s Colours of 2021 Enduring and uplifting is how Pantone has described its choice of colours for 2021. To be honest, as unlikely a marriage of colours as one could have imagined, Illuminating (13-0647) and Ultimate Grey (17-5104) do symbolize strength and hopefulness, two qualities we are striving towards this year after the train wreck of a year that was 2020. I have often wondered about the impact of Pantone’s Colour(s) of the Year on jewellery trends. It’s easy to…

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CMW Pearls’ Tahitian Pearl Auction in Hong Kong

January 13, 2021 Reema Farooqui Comments 0 Comment

One of the most interesting and somewhat arcane (to me, at least) aspects of the pearl world is the pearl auctions that are held after pearl harvests. Invitation only events, buyers are cloistered behind closed doors, examining pearls by lots and then placing bids on them-at least that is how I imagine the pearl auctions playing out. To my great good fortune, I connected with Sylvain Chan at CMW Pearls (Chan Ming Wing Pearl International Ltd.), a Tahitian pearl wholesale…

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The Real Treasure Amidst The Glittering Jewels

December 15, 2020 Reema Farooqui Comments 0 Comment

The Story of Mrs. Flora Sassoon This past week has been punctuated by end-of-year jewellery auctions all over the world. These mid-December auctions are something jewellery lovers look forward to all year, because some of the most interesting and beautiful jewellery lots come up for offer. I scour these auctions for natural pearl jewellery pieces. There is nothing like a prestigious auction to find breathtaking examples of antique and vintage pieces adorned with exceptional natural pearls. I was particularly looking…

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