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Colored Gemstone
Purple Perfection
Pearls are having a surge in popularity at the moment and unique purple pearls are a new offering from Yoko London.
By Brian Bossetta
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| Yoko London |
Pearl farmers have been instigating the natural process of creating pearls ever since Kokichi Mikimoto invented the art of pearl cultivation in Japan in 1893. And though the aquatic environment the pearls are cultivated in can influence the color of the finished product, in the end, it is nature, not man, who has the final say. Though any shell creature, including clams and abalone, can produce a pearl, the majority of pearls used in jewelry are propogated in freshwater from mussels or in saltwater, from oysters.
“You can’t push Mother Nature; you have to let her do her work,” says Mandy Namdar, senior sales associate for Yoko London, referring to the company’s newest line of pearls, known as “radiant orchid.” As part of the Vigneto Collection — the word means vineyard in Italian — this latest assortment of pearls is celebrated for their distinctive color, a rare natural hue of purple or pink. The vibrancy of each individual pearl is dependent on the DNA of its mother host. “You can never tell what kind of pearl is going to come from an oyster,” Namdar adds.
Water temperature, the length of time in the water, pollution levels and nutrients are all factors that farmers can manipulate in pearl harvesting to produce a particular color, but only to a degree. “There are never any guarantees,” says Isabella Daniels, public relations and marketing executive for EuroPearls, Yoko London’s parent company. “It is all about trying to create optimum conditions to allow the best chance of producing the finest pearls.”
The radiant orchid strain of pearls is exclusively sourced from a lake in China where they are farmed— the company keeps the location a corporate secret — and was created by crossbreeding two species of Hyriopsis mussels, cumingi and schlegali. Pearls of the radiant orchid’s quality, size and color are “extremely rare” to find in freshwater, says Michael Hakimian, Yoko London chief executive officer (CEO).
The radiant orchid pearls, which recently went on sale at Bergdorf Goodman and also are available at Neiman Marcus and select independent retailers, represent what Namdar says is the most successful offering to date in the company’s 41-year history. The introduction of the vividly colored pearls has been a significant factor in the expansion of the Yoko London footprint in the U.S. What’s driving the success of the “purple pearls,” in Namdar’s view, are U.S. consumers who, she says, are passionate about beautiful jewelry and appreciate edgy and unusual designs and colors. The line also benefits from the popularity of the color purple in fashion — radiant orchid is, after all, Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2014. The pearls are featured on all types of jewelry from earrings to rings to necklaces and range in size from 13 millimeters to 16 millimeters. Individual pieces in the Vigneto Collection retail from $2,000 up to $100,000.
Their color, Namdar says, is what distinguishes these pearls, making them the shining stars of the Vigneto Collection. “These pearls are the ones that have stunned me the most so far,” Namdar says. And Hakimian agrees: “In my 30 years in the industry, I have never seen pearls like these. We were all instantly mesmerized by them.” Enhancing the uniqueness and beauty of the pearls, Hakimian goes on to say, are the jewelry settings of diamonds and 18-karat white gold, which offset the intense color of the pearls. Yoko London’s designs are all created in house. “Women no longer want to keep their fine jewelry locked up in the safe only to come out on special occasions,” Hakimian says. “They want to be able to wear it often and in different ways and, above all, they are looking for something truly unique.”
Daniels says the radiant orchid collection appeals to “women of all ages,” but feels the “femininity” of the color naturally will attract women looking for luxury, including the various celebrities who have worn the pearls on the red carpet. But the pearls, Hakimian says, are also versatile. “Our pieces are both classically elegant and a modern fashion accessory and many pieces can just as easily be worn with jeans as with an evening dress.”
Yoko London buys approximately 1,000 to 1,500 of the best pearls annually for its product line, according to Daniels. However, that number, Namdar says, is growing due to increasing demand. She believes that the radiant orchid pearl’s popularity with American consumers will further fuel the company’s growth in the U.S, where Yoko London officially established a New York office in August 2013. “We’re very grateful to the U.S. market and the U.S. consumer,” Namdar says. “Coming to the U.S. was the best decision. The U.S. is the place where you can truly shine.”Article from the Rapaport Magazine - December 2014. To subscribe click here.
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