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Single-source selection
We source freshwater and Akoya pearls from two farms we visit in person, one in Shiga Prefecture and one outside Zhuji in Zhejiang. Nothing arrives unseen.
Drimano Pearl
Pearls chosen slowly, worn for years
Each piece begins with a single stone, held in natural light for a long time before anything else happens.
Elara Drimano spent eight years working in the buying department of a large London jeweller before she left in the autumn of 2013 to spend three months in Japan. She had arranged a short apprenticeship with a pearl grader in Mikimoto's home prefecture of Mie, and she went expecting to learn about lustre grades and nacre thickness. What she actually learned was patience. The grader, a man named Tanaka-san who had been doing the work for thirty-one years, would hold a single pearl in diffuse window light for several minutes before placing it in a tray. That habit stayed with her.
Drimano Pearl opened in 2014 from a small studio in Bermondsey, south London. The first year was quiet. Elara made twelve pieces, sold nine of them, and remade two that she was not satisfied with. She kept a notebook of every stone she rejected and why. By 2017 she had established a direct relationship with the Shiga farm and was visiting Zhuji once a year to select freshwater pearls in person. The studio moved to a larger space on Maltby Street in 2019, where it still is. There are two people here: Elara and Mira, who joined in 2021 and handles correspondence and finishing.
Pearls sourced in person from two farms, visited annually
Every strand hand-knotted on natural silk, one knot between each pearl
No plated metal, ever: solid 18k gold or sterling silver only
Bespoke pieces photographed at the stone-selection stage before stringing
Free restringing when the cord shows wear, regardless of purchase date
Two people in the studio: Elara and Mira, no outsourced production
A piece made for you, not for a shelf.
Start an enquiryWe source freshwater and Akoya pearls from two farms we visit in person, one in Shiga Prefecture and one outside Zhuji in Zhejiang. Nothing arrives unseen.
Every strand is knotted by hand on natural silk, with a knot between each pearl. It takes about four hours per necklace. The cord is replaced free of charge when it shows wear.
Clasps and settings are solid 18-karat gold or sterling silver. We do not plate. The metal you receive is the metal that will be there in twenty years.
Most pieces are made after you order them. Lead time is two to four weeks. We think that is a reasonable trade for something you will wear for the rest of your life.
Pearls are not fragile, but they are different from other gemstones. They are organic, porous, and sensitive to a narrow range of things that most people do not think about. The good news is that caring for them well is not complicated. It is mostly a matter of order: what you put on before the pearls go on, and what you do when you take them off.
Read more →The question comes up in almost every bespoke enquiry. Akoya or freshwater? The short answer is that neither is better. They are different in specific ways, and the right choice depends on what you want the piece to do. Here is a plain account of how each type is grown and what that produces.
Read more →Most people buying pearl jewellery are not gemologists, and they should not need to be. But there are a few things worth knowing before you spend a significant amount of money on a piece. Some of them are visible to the naked eye. Others require asking the right questions of whoever is selling.
Read more →
Elara Drimano trained in gemology at the Gemmological Association of Great Britain, graduating in 2005. She spent eight years in the buying department of a London jeweller before leaving in 2013 to apprentice briefly with a pearl grader in Mie Prefecture, Japan. She founded Drimano Pearl in 2014 from a studio in Bermondsey. She lives in Peckham, keeps a small vegetable plot, and reads slowly. She does not have a social media account in her own name.