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The formation of a natural pearl is almost a miracle: a fragment of something that the oyster accidentally ingests gets embedded somehow on the inside of its shell, and the oyster surrounds that something with countless layers of mother of pearl to produce a rare and precious jewel. The evocative beauty of pearls has attracted people since ancient times, but it was long believed that man could never create a pearl.
However, in 1893, a long-held dream came true when Kokichi MIKIMOTO, the company's founder, produced the world's first cultured pearl. Ever since, our pride at being the originator of cultured pearls and a refined sense of beauty have gone into each pearl MIKIMOTO produces. |
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Pearl culturing for MIKIMOTO starts with raising healthy oysters. Our experts are a fount of knowledge about the sea, and they keep a close watch on the delicate young oysters, so susceptible to the effects of climate and other elements of the natural environment. Each oyster is drawn up countless times to make sure it is healthy. An unfathomable amount of care goes into monitoring the growth of the oysters.
The critical moment in pearl culture is the moment when the nucleus is inserted into the oyster. This nucleus, which will become the core of the pearl, usually the processed shell of a the fresh water mussel, a bivalve living in the drainage area of the Mississippi or Tennessee River, is inserted into the body of the oyster, along with part of an outer layer cut in angular shapes several millimetres in area. The quality and precision of this seeding procedure have a major influence on the subsequent formation of the pearl.
Once the nucleus has been inserted into the oysters, they are returned to the sea and placed in an area, such as a bay, where they are washed over by gentle waves. There they are carefully tended to preserve their health. Later, they are moved to areas offshore rich in nutrient plankton, where most of the growth of the pearls takes place. MIKIMOTO's experts clean the oysters to remove barnacles, take measures to protect against typhoons and red tides, monitor the water temperature and oxygen content, and in every way possible strive to create the ideal environment for the oysters.
The oysters are brought ashore during the coldest part of the year so that the pearls can be removed by hand. This is where the beautiful, lustrous pearls first see the light of day. But not all the pearls harvested can be used in MIKIMOTO jewellery. They are evaluated according to a strict selection process that allows no compromise.
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