The Story Behind the Brand Putting Pearls Back in the Spotlight

Written by Viv Rochford

Over ten years ago, Shiyamali started experimenting with pearls as a side project while working full-time as a technologist. It was a slow burn at first. She spent years quietly learning everything she could about the world of pearls, never rushing into business until she felt truly ready. That moment came four years ago, when she decided to turn her passion into a brand, L’Amour Pearls.

What makes her journey stand out isn’t just the product, but the purpose behind it. Most people think of pearls as either old-fashioned or fake. Shiyamali made it her mission to change that by educating customers about what pearls really are: living, organic gemstones formed inside oysters and molluscs. Through her work, she’s helped shift the way modern brands approach pearls, making them feel fresh and current again.

Although she later moved to Canada and built a thriving career in the tech industry, the fascination with pearls never left her. “They were unlike any other gemstone. Formed over time, layer by layer, under pressure, in silence. They felt like a metaphor for womanhood,” she explains. “Even as I moved continents and careers, pearls quietly stayed with me.”

Coming from a corporate background and moving between cultures, Shiyamali faced challenges that ranged from language barriers with international vendors to doubts from people close to her. She even made the big decision to move to the UK during one of the toughest moments in her career.

Today, the brand is based in the UK and has quietly made its mark on the global stage, even earning a feature in British Vogue for its Pearl Drop and Aventurine earrings. “Being featured in Vogue was a meaningful milestone. It was a quiet but powerful reminder that the path we’re on matters,” she reflects. “Those earrings were designed to embody duality, resilience and grace, tradition and transformation.”

What makes L’Amour Pearls truly stand out is not just the product, but the perspective behind it. As a woman of colour with no family ties to the jewellery industry, Shiyamali built everything from the ground up. “I had no connections, no inherited network, no hand to hold. Everything had to be built brick by brick, day by day, from zero,” she says. “But I didn’t wait for permission or opportunity. I created my own.”

One of the biggest learning curves for Shiyamali was not about the product or the business side of things. It was learning to think like an entrepreneur. “I had to train myself to think like a business owner, which was completely different from how I was raised or how I worked in my previous professional life,” she says. “Though gender wasn’t top of mind when launching the brand, it became clear that systemic imbalances still exist, particularly around access to funding, mentorship and visibility. Recognising this only deepened my drive to succeed… Working with vendors across the globe came with diverse cultural expectations. In some regions, I encountered traditional business hierarchies where female voices were less expected in leadership roles. At first, it was challenging, but I learned to navigate these dynamics with resilience and cultural sensitivity”, she says. The growth for Shiyamali was not just professional, it was also personal. “L’Amour Pearls has taught me who I really am. Not just who I thought I was, but who I have become,” she reflects. “And honestly, a lot of people did not even see pearls as relevant anymore. So building a brand around them felt like creating space in a world that was not quite ready. But I did it anyway.”

She describes a turning point as the moment she realized the brand had grown into something bigger than herself. “It was hearing from our customers who felt empowered wearing our pearls. Seeing our pieces featured globally. That is when I knew we had broken through. Not just because of sales, but because we were rewriting the story of pearls.”

For Shiyamali, success is not defined by a single moment or metric. It is about legacy. “The real achievement for me is knowing I built something meaningful from nothing. That L’Amour Pearls is part of people’s lives, their milestones, their stories,” she says. “That is the kind of success that stays with you.”

What is next for L’Amour Pearls? While she keeps future plans under wraps, there is one thing she’s sure of: the best is yet to come. “We’re continuing to push boundaries and blend tradition with innovation in ways you haven’t seen before,” she says.

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