We were lucky to catch up with Simon Powell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Simon, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Our mission statement at Siminetti is: “To continually create inspirational Mother of Pearl luxury surfaces, that are crafted with passion, viewed with awe, and are kind to the planet on which we live.”

When I created Siminetti 14 years ago, I came across one of nature’s most stunning materials, Mother of Pearl, and it was just being discarded. It was my objective to develop a new surface finish utilising this discarded but stunningly beautiful material which also offers a lot of functional benefits to the luxury interior design industry. Everybody knew that Mother of Pearl exists, but not in the way that we have created and work with it. So, the idea was to bring a new surface finish to the world and enable people to realise the beauty of Mother of Pearl and enable interior designers to use it in large surface areas for commercial and residential projects.

Because we launched a brand-new product, I also wanted the name of the company to be a brand-new name that doesn’t exist and reflects the uniqueness of the product itself. I’ve been in the mosaic industry for 35 years and I’ve always been fascinated by the mosaics in the area of Pompeii. So Siminetti is eponymous of Simon, my name as the Founder of Siminetti, but with an Italian twist, reflecting my love for the mosaics of this region. But we are an English brand based in the Cotswolds in the picturesque heritage town of Chipping Campden and are very proud of our unique Mother of Pearl designs, handcrafted quality, and sustainability story.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

The way I got into creating Mother of Pearl mosaics, for me, it stemmed from being with friends in Italy at Pompeii and viewing the mosaics there. There is a huge amount of mosaics in the surrounding area in Naples and I’ve also dived in the bay where there are mosaics sunken under water. I wondered how we could recreate that today if we wanted. How would we do that? So, I investigated that, and I realised there was a gap in the market because people were not really offering marble style of mosaics to the industry.

I was very much involved with a lot of libraries and museums in London at the time, working with marble mosaics, putting in new mosaic floors and into locations. But the issue with marble mosaics is that it is not a sustainable product. When you take marble out of the ground you can’t replace it. Whereas Mother of Pearl is a very sustainable product, and it gives us the opportunity to be able to do many more formats of mosaics. We can do swimming pools with it, we can do walls, we can do furnishings etc. Whereas marble is much more suitable for just floors.

I’ve always been creative in nature and with my expertise, having been in the mosaics industry for 12 to 13 years at that point, I just felt that I could develop and drive forward Mother of Pearl as a surface material because people had never seen it. People, still for the large part, have never seen it and this is what we’re trying to teach the world about: how beautiful, functional, and sustainable this natural product is, yet it was being discarded.

So, by taking my knowledge of mosaics, and I’m probably one of the most knowledgeable people on mosaics in the UK, if not the world, having done so many different styles and formats of mosaics, I saw that Mother of Pearl really had a potential to open up new market sectors and really be this stunning, beautiful surface finish that is not seen and is not known, and needs to be seen and needs to be known.

This is when I started Siminetti 14 years ago with the whole ethos of teaching the world all about it. Which is a big job and a big project to do! But we’ve done some amazing projects around the world and hopefully we’ll continue to do many, many more amazing projects and continue to grow. We have just opened the very first Mother of Pearl showroom in the world this year in London with the objective to demonstrate and to show people first-hand what Mother of Pearl is all about.

In terms of what I’m the proudest of, I’m certainly most proud of developing the brand Siminetti and developing new designs and styles and formats in which Mother of Pearl can be used. I’m exceptionally proud that we’ve done the world’s largest Mother of Pearl project ever in the world, some 7500 square metres of Mother of Pearl. We’ve also done the largest mural in the world in Mother of Pearl, and there are so many other projects which I’m exceptionally proud of.

But we’re looking to target new markets, expand in America, in the UK, in Europe, in the Gulf region and more. We’re looking to target the aircraft industry because the Mother of Pearl is lightweight so it is perfect for the aircraft industry. We continue to work heavily around the world on super yachts, private homes, private palaces, luxury hotels. We work a lot with the Wellness sector; we do a lot of swimming pools and steam rooms because the Mother of Pearl is equally ideally suited to those environments. So, it’s a continual growth and we’re looking at developing new methods of being able to use the product, such as within furniture for example, and we’re looking at launching new designs every year capitalizing on trends within our sector.

Mother of Pearl is an exceptional material that offers so many benefits that are not very well known, so one of our objectives is to raise awareness of it more and more. It’s a very versatile product; you can use it for so many applications from walls to floors, from swimming pools to spa areas, but it’s also an exceptionally robust product. People tend to believe that Mother of Pearl is very fragile. In fact, our Mother of Pearl is generally 2 millimetres thick and it’s exceptionally hard wearing. If you leave it on a wall, it will be there forever, and it won’t degrade.

Mother of Pearl is also a material that is very easy to work with, very easy to install, it goes around curves; it’s very lightweight too which makes it great to use for the super yacht sector, the aircraft sector, and we’re just beginning to work with the automotive industry. It’s also waterproof, heat resistant, frost resistant, easy to clean – and those are natural attributes of the product. Just like from a sustainability perspective, if for any reason you want to put it in the ground, it will degrade naturally and simply return back to the earth. It’s a material that has been around for centuries and doesn’t do any damage to the planet.

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

We were approached by one of the most iconic buildings on Ocean Drive in Miami to reline their swimming pool and hot tub. Both were fundamental aspects of the luxury condominium but they had been lined in a lack-lustre concrete which had simply been painted. It was also not aligned with the original concept from the late renowned architect, Michael Graves, who designed the 1500 Ocean Drive Condominium. His dream and vision was that it would be completed in Mother of Pearl.

There was a large number of people within the condominium that wanted to replace the concrete with Mother of Pearl and to bring the authenticity of the Art Deco building because everything on Ocean Drive is Art Deco. They wanted to bring that Art Deco feel back and to bring the original design concept by the architect back in as well.

But there was also a lot of resistance – to Siminetti, and even to having the Mother of Pearl. Some people wanted a simple solution. Some residents were also originally skeptical about the suitability of the material as Mother of Pearl had only been previously used on one major pool project (the Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale Arizona). We had to prove that Mother of Pearl was suitable for the swimming pool and demonstrate that through our BS EN ISO certification and American standard certification. We had the Mother of Pearl tested for anti-slip requirements to American ANSI standards.

The project went on for many months and I attended two board meetings at the condominium during that time. I listened to some of the members who had concerns about why should they use a foreign company? I was given that phrase to myself directly. The board of the condominium also didn’t bring on the skills of swimming pool contractors, which would have been beneficial and was an impediment we had to overcome.

But we convinced them of Siminetti’s expertise. We have a lot of experience with swimming pools. As a matter of fact, Mother of Pearl is a material that is ideally suited to swimming pools. And we’re the only company in the world who can do swimming pools in Mother of Pearl. We offered a 5-year warranty with the project as well. We had that drawn up by their lawyers and were in negotiations with them throughout the project. We assisted them throughout the whole process from selecting the right materials to the way to install them or designing it, and then how to look after the materials once they were installed.

In the end, Siminetti supplied a staggering 3500ft2 / 350m2 of Midnight Pearl & Bianco mother of pearl mosaic tiles to the condominium. It’s the second largest commercial swimming pool in America to be completed in mother of pearl (we did so in 2021). The only other one prior to that was done in the 1970s we’ve been told, and there are no other swimming pools that have been done on a commercial level like that to our knowledge since.

We used ‘Bianco’ in the body of the pool and the hot tub area. And then, we used ‘Midnight Pearl’ around the border area. Both Midnight Pearl and Bianco are ideally suited to use in a swimming pool. Their unique qualities mean that the harsh chemicals commonly used in swimming pools will not tarnish the tiles & the UV rays from the hot Floridian sun will not cause discolouration. Once applied the stunning swimming pool emerged as an iridescent lagoon of white mother of pearl mosaic tile with black trim, that literally shimmers in the sunlight, and projects an oasis of calm and relaxation, when lit by its computer-controlled evening lights.

We are very proud to have completed this project in such an iconic location and to have finally overcome the challenges and the resistance from some of the members of the condominium. It was very rewarding for us to see that our knowledge and experience helped win the project. We were able to convince them that we knew exactly what we were talking about, that we were the specialists in what we do, that we were a sound company to work with. Our technical knowledge, our technical support, and the product quality met all their requirements.

I’m very much aware that even those people that were against having the Mother of Pearl in the first instance are now fully converted that Mother of Pearl was the perfect choice to have. As the condominium’s President put it: “Once all is said and done, all of our owners and guests seem to agree that the final result is not only visually stunning, but that it speaks directly to Michael Graves’ postmodernist vision. It looks like a win-win for all concerned”.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

With our Mother of Pearl luxury surfaces, we have created a very specific niche within the luxury interior design market. We are the only company that does what we do so we’re both the market pioneers and the market leaders offering a brand-new surface, 100% sustainable, offering unique qualities and benefits, and suitable for a vast array of commercial and residential projects.

We are known for our attention to detail. That is key when we’re working with such a high value product and high net worth clients and projects. Everything that we do has to be 150% from our marketing materials to the way we supply samples to the way that we communicate to the product that we supply, and to the services and aftercare that we offer. Everything has to be at least 150%.

When people are buying into the brand, they’re buying into the product and we’re taking them on a journey with us. As part of the process, we are giving them peace of mind and confidence that they are being supported and that we excel at what we do and that we know what we are talking about.

We are also very quick to react. When people require samples, we aim to ensure that they get the samples within no more than 48 hours. When people make an inquiry, we look to respond to that inquiry the exact same day. That level of service has built us a great reputation for being responsive. We’re never resting on our laurels. For us, every order, every project, every inquiry is as important as the last.

Overall, I would like to think that people find my reputation to be one that is not only trustworthy, but also knowledgeable and also flexible in trying to find solutions for our clients because one of the greatest things that we offer is that flexibility. We can offer bespoke solutions to our clients and I believe that it works very much in our favour. It allows us to create and provide tailored solutions to the exacting wishes and specifications of our clients. It is one of the many beauties of our Mother of Pearl luxury surfaces.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.siminetti.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/siminetti/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/siminetti
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/siminetti/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxfqGQQ4CCCLlj-oTk1oobQ