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Cultured Pearls

Naturally occurring pearls are extremely rare. On average, hundreds of pearl oysters must be harvested in order to find just one pearl. Cultured pearls, on the other hand, are produced through a process that is controlled by human pearl farmers.

The process that produces cultured pearls can be traced to late 19th century Japan. Two Japanese researchers, Mise and Nishikawa develop a process in which a foreign irritant is inserted into the mollusk, which then induces the creation of a pearl. This process was patented by Kokichi Mikimoto in the first years of the 20th century.

Cultured pearls offered a significant boom to the pearl industry. Harvests could be more accurately predicted and the development monitored in order to produce perfectly round pearls. This technique also allowed pearls to be mass produced, which significantly reduced their cost to the consumer.

 

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