Our roots · Shaoxing, China
Shaoxing - The Venice of the East
Shaoxing is one of China's most celebrated cultural cities, a place where canals wind through centuries-old architecture, where silk and tea markets hum in the early morning, and where the art of pearl-keeping has been passed down through generations. It is a city that doesn't rush. Beauty there is patient — accumulated slowly, worn quietly. That spirit lives in every piece of Pretty U&Me jewelry.
LEGEND · XI SHI
The tears of Xi Shi became the pearls of Shaoxing
Xi Shi is one of the Four Great Beauties of ancient China — and she was born in Shaoxing. Legend says her tears, falling into the river as she was taken from her home, became the lustrous pearls that now line the region's waterways. It is a legend about sacrifice, about the beauty that emerges from sorrow, and about the enduring grace of a woman who carries herself with dignity even in the hardest moments. Xi Shi's spirit is woven into every pearl we carry.
THE PEARL TRADITION
Pearls weren't jewelry.They were everyday life.
"Women wore pearls to the market, to the temple, to the table. They were quiet symbols of grace — not declarations of wealth."
That upbringing shaped my belief that a pearl doesn't need to be locked behind glass. It belongs in your hand, on your ear, worn because Tuesday deserves beauty too.
Carry a piece of Shaoxing
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