" Think about the best Luxury Hotel sheets you’ve ever slept on, and your memories might include spectacular snoozing, passionate wrestling or just languorous mornings in Bed.You Slip into Bed and Feel the crispy Texture of Smooth, whisper-weight Sheets on your Bare Skin. Indulge your senses…………… "

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Try on Your bed real luxury Linens; try the finest Soft and Crisp American Pima cotton percale for exceptional comfort:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Percale
Percale cotton is lightweight and crisp yet incredibly soft. Percale is a plain weave with a matte finish (not shiny) and a supple lofty hand.

American Pima

Sea Island or American Pima cotton is a very strong, high-grade, long staple cotton quality developed from selected Egyptian cotton crops in the southwest of the United States.

Pima County

Because of the fineness of Pima cotton, more fibers can be spun into a yarn of a given count, which will enhance the feel, softness, drape and brilliance of a fabric. It is named after Pima County in southern Arizona, location of the experimental farm on which it was firstly developed in the early 1900s.

The San Joaquin Valley

Its fineness and longer staple length makes Pima a premium cotton fiber. Pima cotton is grown almost exclusively on furrowed rows where growers can closely regulate irrigation and other inputs.Pulling the fiber from crops is more expensive than other cottons since Pima cotton is roller-ginned to remove seeds and impurities.
It now accounts for only 3% of US annual cotton production and is mainly cultivated in the San Joaquin Valley, California where the cotton can benefit from a long growing season in a hot, dry climate.

 

Jay C. Conti

Belvivere Luxury Linens

Ahhhh. Fresh, soft-as-butter sheets, just waiting for you to snuggle up and sleep tight in a pampering whole-body experience.
You will be amazed by the luminous sheen and rich drape of Luxury Linens made of the finest 700TC Egyptian Giza cotton sateen.

Giza Cotton
Giza is a premium quality extra long staple Egyptian cotton. Finest grade Giza spins into much smoother, finer and stronger yarn than any other cotton in the world. Only weaving these fine yarns is possible to achieve a true 700 thread count sateen. It is grown and harvested in very limited quantities in the northern part of Egypt.

Among all the Extra Long Staple Cotton qualities Giza 87 really stands out of the crowd. It was planted for the very first time in 1820 by the founder of modern Egypt, Mohammed Alì Pascià, symbol of the rebuilding of the country after the invasion of Napoleon's French troop. As a matter of fact, Mohammed imported Sea Island and Brazilian cotton seeds because he was enthusiastic about the fabulous cloths produced abroad with this raw material.

The best seeds in the world, coupled with just the right environment, created the ideal conditions for growing the most sought after cotton in the world.. The plants of Giza 87 cotton are cultivated in a tiny area east of the Nile delta, searching for the best place each year, and represent 0.5% of the total annual Egyptian cotton production. Cotton is picked by hand in five stages so only the flocks that are at the right degree of maturity are picked each time. The care taken with cultivating and manually picking the cotton avoids the use of defoliants and other chemical products commonly used with mechanized picking.

Giza 87 cotton fibres are extremely long (36 mm) and have a uniformity index of 88.5%. But what really makes this cotton exceptional is the fineness of its fibres, measured in micronaire, which is between 3.0 and 3.2, and the degree of brightness equal to 74.8 the best among the Extra Long Staple cottons.
Despite this fineness, the stretching resistance of the Giza 87 fibres is still high, an average of 44.30 g/tex.
This cotton, due to its particular use and commercial value, is not necessarily grown each year. In this case, the seeds are preserved carefully for the following harvests.
In terms of resistance, cleanliness and regularity, the uniquely excellent features of Giza 87 are obvious, used to make extremely fine and strong yarns and fabrics that have an extraordinarily soft and silky texture for the best Luxury bedding in the world.

 

Why Egypt is the ideal environment for growing such top quality cotton?
The very best cotton grows here because of the particular climatic conditions and the fertility of the soil along the Nile in its delta area. The Greek writer Erodoto wrote that "Egypt is the Nile's gift", a never ending source of loamy water for irrigating the fields. Its delta is a huge green triangle that opens like a fan in the desert between the two main branches. The Delta, in fact, which is the most fertile and heavily populated region in all of Egypt, produces a large part of the country's crops.

On an average 190 mm of rain falls from October to April, concentrated in just a few days with torrential rain. Relative air humidity is rather high, 60-70%, likewise the frequency of the sea winds north from the Mediterranean. There is not much change in the daily and annual temperatures due to the nearness of the sea. Not even in winter do we find sudden changes in temperature from one day to the next because even the north winds, due to their long passage over the hot Mediterranean, are only slightly colder than those coming in from the south.

Cotton is planted at the end of March when the climate is slightly cooler. This helps the plant produce branches lower down. The cotton flocks that mature in the shade are not affected a great deal by the direct heat of the sun. In July and August, when the cotton fibres are forming, the climate is very stable and good for the production of uniform and regular fibres. It is harvested in September.

This climatic paradise is the secret behind the quality of Egyptian cotton which is exceptional with many, many qualities. But such precious raw materials are bothered by a problem of pollution by foreign fibrils because they picked by hand and handled time and time again with the “farfara” method (mixing by hand, eliminating the large external particles). It is the ability of the spinner, with the know-how and the most suitable modern equipment, that makes the difference at this stage, skillfully eliminating the impurities, making it perfect for all those Luxury Bedding.

 

Glossary of terms

Sateen
Cotton sateen is lustrous and smooth, with a luminous sheen. Sateen weave add luster and drape for a soft silky hand

Hemstitch
A decorative stitch usually bordering a hem made by drawing out several parallel threads punching even rows of small holes and then stitching around the perforations.

 

Giacomo Rossi

Belvivere Luxury Linens

 

 

Belgian Linen is Made of European grown flax fibres and has a premium high quality. Belgian Linen is Woven accordingly to a time-honored tradition into luxury linens, it's crisp, clean and comfortable, soft yet strong and durable. Linen conveys understated qualities, unrivaled by any other natural fabric:

- it is colorfast and launder beautifully wash after wash. The more it is used the softer it gets and the stronger it becomes.

- Linen is thermo-regulating, insulate in wintertime while being cool and breathable in summertime.

- It can absorb up to 20% of its weight in moisture before it feels damp, and easily releases moisture to the air to remain cool and dry to the touch.

- There is a natural body perspiration while sleeping, so having sheets that easily absorb and release moisture is essential to a comfortable night rest.

- Flax requires considerably fewer pesticides and fertilizers than other crops thus being non-allergenic and anti-bacterial, especially recommended for sensitive skin.

- The fibers are recyclable and eventually biodegrade.

- Linen naturally induces a feeling of pleasure, comfort and an healthy well being. It definitely makes you feel good!

- Though Linen does wrinkle easily, it presses easily as well... ....and in the end that worn creased look is part of its stylish appeal!

 

What makes Belgian Linen special?

The flax grown in Belgium is one of the few crops still produced in Western Europe, with nearly 130,000 acres under cultivation annually. For centuries, flax has been grown in Flanders, the westernmost region of Belgium, known since the Renaissance for its prosperity and culture. The climate and topography of the region, interlaced with many small rivers, have made it ideal for linen production.

Belgian linen is recognized as being the best in the World and is especially indicated for luxury linens. This excellence may be attributed to three beneficial factors:

- a well-suited soil. Flax is best adapted to fertile, fine textured, clay soils

- a favourable climate with adequate moisture and relatively cool temperatures, particularly during the period from flowering to maturity (June and July).

- Belgian flax growers whose prime concern is quality have the in-depth knowledge and experience required to ensure perfection throughout the various steps of the process. Preparing the soil, selecting varieties, sowing and growing flax, monitoring the cultivation, pulling and retting, the aim of which is to encourage fibre extraction, all these different tasks are carried out with the same rigour and care using traditional methods that have been passed on throughout the ages.

 

Glossary of terms

Flax

Natural fiber that comes from the stem or stalk of the flax plant; when flax is woven, it produces linen.

Scientifically named Linum Usitatissimum translates from the Latin as "most useful linen." In naming this species, botanists recognized the inherent value of the humble flax plant. For ten thousand years or more, man has known this gentle gift of nature was the source of textiles with special properties.

Linen

It is the fabric woven from the fibers of the flax plant crops. Linen is more expensive than cotton since it is technically more difficult to spin and weaves slowly while cultivation of the flax crops is more labor intensive and require specific climatic conditions.

 

Jay C. Conti

Belvivere Luxury Linens

 

 

 

Egyptian cotton has not gained such a reputation without reason. Egyptian cotton is the world's finest cotton used for luxury linens and the following characteristics are what sets Egyptian cotton apart from other natural fibers:

- The humid conditions and rich soil in Egypt along the Nile River banks create the perfect conditions to grow long cotton fibers (also known as staples).

- The staples of Egyptian cotton can range from 1 1/2 inches to 2 1/4 inches. Their long length is about twice the size of other cotton fibers.

- The length of the fiber makes it possible to spin the finest yarns without sacrificing the strength of the yarn itself.

- The strength of the fiber makes fabrics more durable and resistant to stress.

- Its ability to absorb liquids gives fabrics made of Egyptian cotton deeper, brighter and more resistant colors.

- The yarns are smooth and lustrous and the softness of the woven fabric feels like nothing else in the world and thus the best for Luxury Linens.

- Egyptian cotton is hand picked which guarantees the highest levels of purity. In addition, hand picking puts no stress on the fibers - as opposed to mechanical picking - leaving the fibers straight and intact.

- The particular care in terms of the cultivation process, and the hand harvesting, ensures that the cotton is perfectly clean at every stage of the growth cycle. The cotton is gathered by hand at 5 specific stages of its life in order to select only fully ripe seeds. This meticulousness yields a perfect quality yarn: its long and ripe fibres give an exceptionally soft and silky product with truly outstanding quality.

All these factors have resulted in Egyptian cotton being by far the best cotton in the world. Luxury Linens made of Egyptian Cotton are softer, finer and last longer than any other cotton in the world.

Among all varieties of Egyptian cotton Belvivere uses;
- Giza
- Makò

 

Giacomo Rossi

Luxury Linens Expert at belvivere.com