Mikimoto Pearls
The vast majority of pearls that you can buy today are cultured. One of the best known brands of cultured pearl on the market is the Mikimoto Pearl. They are to be found in all manner of jewelry from earrings and necklaces to finger rings and bracelets.
Kokichi Mikimoto
The Mikimoto pearl is named after Kokichi Mikimoto, credited with being the first person to find a commercially viable way of producing cultured pearls.Mikimoto lived in Japan in the 19th century. The local natural pearls - always scarce and hence valuabe - were threatened by over-harvesting. Mikimoto decided to try and find a way of "farming" pearls by "persuading" molluscs to produce them. This was a difficult process because of the huge number of variables involved in the natural process.
Despite setbacks, Mikimoto continued trying and in 1893 he succeeded in persuading an oyster to produce the world's first cultivated pearl. Although this was a breakthrough, more work was required. It wasn't until 1913 that Mikimoto had perfected the method to reliably produce pearls of a high enough quality that they could be sold in the stores.
Mikimoto wasn't the only one who had been working on the production of cultured pearls and a number of other Japanese researchers had filed patents on different techniques. Mikimoto eventually bought out these patents, leaving him with a clear field.
The first Mikimoto pearl store opened in 1899 in Tokyo and over the next few years expanded with international branches in London, Paris, New York and beyond.
Mikimoto has introduced its own grading system for cultured pearls. The ratings are based on the pearl's lustre and surface perfection with the highest grade being "AAA" and the lowest being "A1". According to Mikimoto, only around 5% of the cultured pearls harvested in Japan are deemed worthy to carry their name even at the "A1" level.