A Brief Guide To Pearls With Yoko London

Forbes

10-07-2025

Yoko London campaign Yoko London
British fine jewelry brand Yoko London was established in 1973 by the Hakimian family, and has built a reputation for offering exquisite pearl jewelry that combines tradition and modernity, both in regards to craftsmanship and design. Made by hand in their London atelier, each piece incorporates carefully sourced pearls, showcasing a range of classic and contemporary pearl earrings, necklaces, rings and bracelets — perfect for the pearl's modern-day resurgence.
Yoko London campaign Yoko London
For the top line pearl 101, Michael Hakimian, the CEO of Yoko London shares his guide, from what they are to the different types, and how to care for them.
A pearl is an organic gemstone, created through a biological process and stand out due to their origin. Pearls are formed by living organisms, when an irritant enters a mollusc, typically an oyster, it is coated with layers of nacre, this is the same luminous substance that is on the inside of the shell, more commonly known as mother of pearl. Overtime this builds and naturally forms the pearl. What makes pearls so unique and special in the fine jewelry world is their naturally
lustre and organic form, requiring no cutting or polishing, emphasising their unique allure. Each pearl varies, therefore jewelry with the use of pearls, ensures each piece is unique and standout.
Yoko London campaign Yoko London
Natural pearls in today's world are incredibly rare, often found in museums. Most pearls on the market are cultured, formed using the same biological process but with an extra bit of help, a nucleus is introduced to the mollusc, as a catalyst, to encourage pearl formation. Cultured pearls are just as beautiful and can sometimes exhibit a higher lustre due to the controlled environment.
Yoko London campaign Yoko London
At Yoko London, our pearls are sourced from the highest quality farms around the world, we have 5 key varieties of pearls, each with a distinctive characteristic and formulated from different parts of the world. Australian South Sea Pearls: Distinctively known for their captivating white to silver lustre. Often featured across our High Jewelry, showcasing rare, larger South Sea Pearls in exclusive, statement pieces.
Indonesian South Sea Pearls: Handpicked for their opulently rich golden hues from soft champagne to deep gold. Discoverable across our couture collections, and in our the new Zyyp collection.
Chinese Freshwater Pearls: Featuring exquisite white and pink tones, each exuding grace with a radiant lustre. We refer to our pink shades from soft peach to a radiant orchid. Seen over many of our collections, but iconic to our Classic Collection.
Japanese Akoya Pearls: Classically white, cream and sometimes a soft pink or even grey to silver hues. Exquisitely known for their perfectly round shape and mirror like lustre. Our elegant akoya strands are a common staple. Seen often in our choker designs, particularly across our new O by Yoko Collection.
Tahitian Pearls: Renowned for their exotic dark colors, we have a variety of hues from black, to peacock green, silver grey and our latest arrival in pistachio. These provide a contemporary artistic approach to our designs, often seen in our Ombre pieces and layered strands.
Baroque Pearls: A term used to describe irregular and non-spherical shapes, highlighting their natural beauty. We have a variety of baroque pieces, particularly across our South Sea and Freshwater pearls and have a dedicated collection to Baroque pearls where each piece is a unique treasure, showcasing the allure of organic form.
Yoko London campaign Yoko London What Makes Pearls Valuable?
Multiple factors determine a pearls value, often the origin of color compared with the size, surface quality, lustre and shape. Matching is a crucial element when creating strands or pieces with multiple pearls. This meticulous process significantly increases the value of the jewelry as perfectly matched pearls are hard to come by. At Yoko London, we take pride in achieving flawless visual harmony achieved through expert matching. This is showcased distinctively across our Ombre and Classic Designs, where these pieces can often take months to a year to create, patience and precision are essential to us in our final creations. We carefully grade our pearls against these criteria to ensure only the finest pearls are selected for our customers, meeting the Yoko promise. What Sets Yoko London Apart
Established in 1973, by the Hakimian family, Yoko London is a British brand with three generations of heritage and pearl expertise. We merge the classic elegance of pearls with bold, modern designs, aiming to redefine pearls making them wearable and versatile for contemporary lifestyles. We can also offer bespoke services to clients and often create one-of- a-kind pieces across our High Jewelry Collections. We don't just create pearl jewelry, we craft heirlooms of exceptional quality, innovation and timeless sophistication and setting a new benchmark in luxury pearls.
Yoko London campaign Yoko London How To Care For Pearl Jewelry
To preserve your pearls lustre, pearl jewelry should be the last thing you put on and the first thing you take off as cosmetics can damage the pearls surface. Storing pearls separately from other gemstones to avoid scratches; our new purple travel box, with a soft interior and dedicated compartments is ideal for our Classic earrings, bracelet and necklace set. Clean your pearls with a polishing cloth and a pearl safe spray, our deluxe cleaning kit is perfect for the job. We also suggest restringing your strung pieces every one to four years, this service is also available at our London atelier. How To Wear Pearls
Something as simple as a single strand pearl necklace has long been synonymous with Hollywood A-listers, British royalty, and iconic figures of the '80s and '90s - think Audrey Hepburn, Jackie Kennedy, and Princess Diana. This simple accessory is the epitome of elegance and timelessness, it's a subtle yet powerful statement that has remained popular through decades of ever-changing fashion.
Jacqueline Kennedy (Jackie Onassis) (1929 - 1994) wife of Senator Jack Kennedy at an 'April in Paris' ball, 1958. Original Artwork: A Wonderful Time - Slim Aarons (Photo by) Getty Images
Today, pearls are more relevant than ever, with stars like Lewis Hamilton making the pearl necklace his signature styling piece, particularly seen in Yoko London South Sea Pearl necklaces and Akoya Diamond Earrings to his F1 events. This resurgence has sparked a cultural moment within fashion, establishing pearls as a gender-fluid accessory embraced by both men and women. Yoko London has debuted a curated menswear collection showcasing the wearability of their pieces enabling each demographic to style pearls in such a unique way thanks to the brands product versatility.
See more on yokolondon.com.