Tagged with 'Winterson'

This week saw the launch of our Winterson Journal, a jewellery blog with a focus all about pearls.

There can be so much to learn about pearls, each pearl is unique, with its own distinct colour and lustre. That is part of their magic. In this Journal, we hope to bring you our thoughts on the latest in pearl fashions, jewellery designers and exciting news from Winterson.

We hope you enjoy our Journal. If you have a comment or a question, let us know !

Fashioned with oddly shaped pearls, we have just introduced our first Keshi pearl necklace and matching Keshi pearl bracelet to Winterson.

The word keshi or keishi means ‘poppy’ in Japanese. This pretty word perfectly captures the shining lustre, orient and baroque shape of Keshi pearls, which lend themselves to distinctive jewellery.

Keshi are thought to form naturally in a saltwater oyster, as a piece of trapped tissue, shell or a micro-organism causes the growth of a baroque pearl. With no implanted bead nucleus, they are composed entirely of nacre and this gives rise to their beautiful shine.

In recent years with the growth of the cultured pearl industry, Keshi pearls have been produced in saltwater oysters by accident when the inserted nucleus separates from its tissue implant. The term Keshi is also widely used by producers of Chinese cultured freshwater pearls to describe baroque pearls that are produced spontaneously in the mussel after the first harvest of pearls.

Let us know what you think.  We hope you like them !

The start of summer is also the end of a long academic road for many.

If you are thinking of celebrating college, high school and university success and achievement with a graduation gift, then pearls are a perfect choice.

At Winterson, we have an extensive range of beautiful pieces of pearl jewellery that make ideal graduation gifts. Classic pearl necklaces or pearl earrings are very popular, but if you are looking for something unique then our range of pendants would also be a special gift.

A truly classic choice, Japanese Akoya pearls have the timeless elegance of fine jewellery. This type of saltwater pearl was the first to be cultured in Japan in the early 1900s and today are continued to be loved for their quality.

Akoya pearls are typically white, with an overtone of pink, and are admired for their excellent lustre. Lustre describes the way that light is reflected by the physical structure of the pearl's surface. A strong lustre is one of the key qualities to look for when buying pearls and will help create a flattering glow for its wearer.

A pearl jewellery set of Japanese Akoya pearl necklace and stud earrings, perhaps completed with a bracelet, is a classic piece in any jewellery box. These pearls would be a beautiful graduation gift to be enjoyed on Graduation Day and as a reminder many years later after the ceremony.

To make the pleasure of receiving pearl jewellery as a gift more special, we offer all of our jewellery in a soft travel pouch presented in a luxurious jewellery box. Each item is gift-wrapped in our signature zig zag pattern and sealed with a Winterson flower.

Please Contact Us and we would be delighted to answer any questions that you may have or if you would simply like some advice about our pearls.

Reports yesterday suggested that the UK Government is reviewing the system for hallmarking with its Red Tape Challenge as its tries to reduce regulation for consumers and businesses. The historic system of hallmarking has been in use in the UK for centuries and in its present guise since 1973.

Whilst it makes sense to reduce unnecessary red tape, the hallmarking standard does provide important controls over the supply of precious metals such as silver, gold and more recently palladium in the UK.

As a result valuable items of jewellery are independently tested and marked to a standard of purity such as 18 carat gold.

Without the work of the Assay Offices in the UK, jewellery lovers and businesses alike may find that they are buying a different quality of precious metal to that which they are expecting.

We'd like hallmarking to stay. If you agree, please add your comments to the debate here.

UPDATE

On 28th July 2011, following a successful industry and consumer campaign to keep this historic practice, the Government announced that the hallmarking system would survive in its present form.

The historic Star Ferry has ploughed its way across Hong Kong harbour since the late 1880s. The crossing is named by National Geographic Traveler as one of their 50 Places of a Lifetime.

When the sun is shining, the sea turns a petrol green colour and with that magnificent skyline, there can be few better ways to get to work in the morning or places for buying pearls.

For the last four days, Hong Kong has been host to the largest Spring Jewellery Show in Asia, with more than 30,000 buyers and suppliers attending from around the world – a record attendance despite recent times.

In pearl terms, Hong Kong has grown to be one of the most important pearl trading centres in the world and this is one of the key dates in the annual calendar for buying pearls. It is hard to comprehend the size of the pearl industry until confronted by more than 10,000 square metres of pearls for sale at this Jewellery Show.

The new season’s freshwater pearls from China are available to the market for the first time and prestigious pearl famers such as Robert Wan from Tahiti and Paspaley from Australia offer their pearls at auction to a select specialist group of buyers.

Pearl prices are beginning to rise again. Demand for these incredible gems is increasing, particularly from customers in India and China, whilst production over the last two years has been reduced as pearl farmers have weathered the global crisis.

This is particularly true of larger Freshwater, Akoya, Tahitian and South Sea pearls and higher grade quality pearls are in much shorter supply now. With minimum lead times of 18 months to over 3 years for farmers to increase their pearl harvest, it is likely that this trend will continue for the foreseeable future, especially for the premium grade pearls.

It is a good time to buy pearls and we will have many beautiful pieces of pearl jewellery to show you at Winterson over the coming months.

Last week saw the launch of the updated Winterson website.

Finding a distinctive and beautiful place for buying pearls and luxury jewellery online can be a real treat. Discover with us our range of pearl necklaces, sautoirs, earrings, pendants and bracelets.

Our thanks go to to Mark and the highly creative team at GPMD for their ecommerce website development and the inspirational Bob at Distinguished & Co for an amazing site design.

We love the updated Winterson site and hope that you do too.

Valentine's Day is almost here.

So celebrate by entering the Winterson Love to Give competition to win this stunning multi-coloured Freshwater pearl bracelet, a gorgeous classic piece of jewellery made with 7-7.5mm multi-coloured freshwater pearls and finished with an 18 carat yellow gold lobster clasp.

The rules of the competition are very simple.  All you have to do is complete all of these 3 steps:

1. Follow @WintersonPearls on Twitter

2. Tweet "Love to Give...enter the @WintersonPearls competition to win a pearl bracelet http://bit.ly/gX7sni"

3. Leave a comment here on the blog to say that you have entered. Remember to leave your Twitter name so that we can contact you.

We will choose the winner at random on 14th February 2011 at 6pm.

The giveaway is only open to UK residents only. The competition prize is offered with no cash alternative, with only one entry allowed for each entrant. The competition closes at 6pm on 14th February 2011 and no entrants will be considered after this time. The winner will be notified within 7 days of the competition closing.

By entering this prize draw, you agree that Winterson has permission to retain your details for future marketing purposes. All entrants are bound by these terms and conditions.

Good luck !

Pearl photography is certainly an art and capturing the beauty of this gem in a high-resolution image to be used online or in print is one of the most difficult aspects for any jewellery photographer.

The round surfaces of a pearl can throw off a reflection from any angle. Too much light and a pearl’s natural lustre will fade, diffusing its overtones of colour. Too much contrast can reduce a pearl’s natural beauty and will turn a wonderful organic gem into a harsh, metallic object.

Different types of pearl also complicate the photographer’s challenge.  The appearance of the soft white, cream and pink tones of a cultured Akoya pearl are very different to the shimmering complexity of a colour in a Tahitian pearl necklace.

When we are buying pearls for Winterson, we find that consistent lighting is very important so that we can understand the surface and lustre of a pearl fully. As the quality of a pearl can vary so widely, the skill of a photographer for our customers is to represent the jewellery as it would look in real life and yet convey its unique beauty.

We were delighted to see our pearls featured this month in an article on photographing jewellery in The Jeweller magazine and we would like to thank Paul Hartley for his exquisite photography.

Looking for a fabulous or stunning party look for this winter’s party season?

There’s no excuse to hibernate this Christmas. Party with pearls, the perfect fine jewellery.

 

Stand out with a statement pearl choker necklace, a sparkling pearl pendant or simple eye-catching pearl and diamond earrings.

 

We would like to wish all our customers and friends a sparkling holiday and a very happy 2011.