Late last year, Rick and I had the pleasure of sitting down with Simon Powell and discussing his a rather unique company based in Chipping Campden near Stratford upon Avon, (UK) – otherwise known as the former stomping grounds of one William Shakespeare.

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​​​​​​​​​​​​​Siminetti’s unique focus is on one thing...and one thing only; Mother of Pearl, and to my knowledge, no other company in the world offers more varietals and custom applications. Their client roster reads like the editorial manifest of Architectural Digest or Wallpaper, and their projects range from Superyachts, to high-end Hospitality, to Private Residences...and of course to Private Aircraft.

But this company goes way beyond simply sourcing fine mother or pearl and laying it onto substraights. They have created literally hundreds of unique, proprietary patterns – geometric interlacing designs with varying color hues combined with delicate inlays – each a work of art and each ‘hand-pieced’.

In my conversation with Mr. Powell, (CEO) and Ms. Laidlaw-Smith, I was taken through a unique process that starts with the sourcing of both Freshwater and Saltwater Pearl. The former is sourced from shells that are grown expressly for the natural Freshwater Pearl industry. The shells become a biproduct which Siminetti sources directly from the farms in Asia; the world’s largest producer of Freshwater Pearls, producing some 1,500 metric tons per year. And it’s all fully sustainable. Rather than simply discarding the shells from production after harvesting the pearls themselves, Siminetti sources the shells in conjunction with its partners and are fully utilized to form their shell mosaics and decorative panels. Nothing is ever depleted, and the cycle simply continues without waste or disruption.