We are asked, often, how we choose. The honest answer is slowly — a piece earns its place here only after it has passed through our hands and our standards. This page sets out those standards in full, so you know exactly what you are holding.
Last updated: 2026
Our philosophy
A pearl cannot be cut or polished into beauty the way a diamond can. It is born finished. Everything it will ever be was decided in the water, in the months the oyster spent laying nacre. So our work is not to improve pearls — it is to find the ones worth keeping, and to tell you the truth about them.
1. Nacre — the substance of the pearl
Nacre is the material the oyster builds around the nucleus, layer upon microscopic layer, like a thousand curtains of silk. It is the single most important measure of a pearl, because nacre is where lustre lives.
- We look for nacre that is thick and well-formed — pearls whose coating is thin enough to see through, or that chip or dull within a few years of wear, never reach our cases.
- Thick nacre also means longevity: a well-nacred pearl worn and cared for will outlive trends, and its owner.
2. Lustre — the light within
Lustre is the sharpness of the light reflected from the pearl's surface — the difference between a glow and a glare, between a mirror and a painted one.
- We hold every pearl to the light and look for crisp, bright reflections with deep contrast: you should almost see your own silhouette.
- A pearl with fine lustre looks alive from across a room. A pearl without it looks like a bead, however perfect its shape. We do not compromise here.
3. Surface — the character of the skin
Pearls are natural, and their surfaces tell the story of their making: faint ripples, tiny marks, the occasional birthmark.
- We accept the marks that are part of nature's handwriting — visible only at close range, part of what makes a pearl one of one.
- We refuse the ones that shorten a pearl's life: cracks, large pits, flakes, or dull patches where the nacre is thin. Clean surfaces on at least 90% of the pearl is our working bar for most pieces.
4. Shape and matching
Perfectly round pearls are the rarest of all — a strand of them can take tens of thousands of pearls to assemble. But shape is also a language:
- Round and near-round for the classics; drop and oval for pieces with a line; baroque for one-of-a-kind character.
- For pairs and strands, we grade matching as strictly as the pearls themselves: colour, lustre, size and surface must read as sisters, not strangers.
5. Colour
Colour is judged in daylight, never under lamps that flatter. We read a pearl's body colour (its base tone) and overtone (the tint that floats above it — rose, silver, green, gold). We select for colours that are even, deep and true, and we describe them honestly on every product page rather than flattering them.
6. Size
Size is a matter of intention, not status. We choose the size that serves the design — a quiet 6–7 mm for everyday studs, a full 10–11 mm when the piece is meant to be the sentence, not the punctuation. Larger pearls are rarer simply because the oyster must keep working longer; we price them accordingly, never artificially.
What we refuse
- Pearls with thin or peeling nacre — however cheap they would make the piece.
- Cracked, flaked or heavily pitted surfaces.
- Mismatched pairs and strands — if they do not read as one, they do not ship.
- Dyed pearls sold as natural colour, and treatments not disclosed.
- Anything we could not honestly describe to a friend.
Our promise
Every piece we sell is described accurately, graded honestly, and priced fairly for what it is. If you ever receive a piece that does not match this page, our Returns & Refunds policy is not the fine print — it is the promise. Write to us; we would rather hear it than not.