[The True Value of Japanese Pearls]

Cleopatra VII, one of the three most beautiful women in the world, was known to have owned the world's largest pearl earrings at that time. Coco Chanel (birth name Gabrielle Chanel), also known as a designer who loved pearls, actively introduced cultured pearls and imitation pearls into fashion as a symbol of a strong woman. In Japan, pearls have long been the representative jewelry for weddings and funerals, but nowadays, pearls are being used in fashion, street fashion, and men's fashion, and the image of pearls has been renewed and further evolved.

In 2021, the “GIA” (Gemological Institute of America), a world-renowned authority on jewelry grading, will begin grading services specifically for cultured pearls. This made the high quality of Japanese cultured pearls a topic of conversation around the world. This trend has increased the value of cultured pearls not only as jewelry but also as assets, and with the recent arrival of inbound tourism, Japan is now in the midst of a pearl bubble.

The three major pearl cultivation areas in Japan are Ise-Shima in Mie Prefecture, Uwajima in Ehime Prefecture (Akoya oysters), and Amami-Oshima in Kagoshima Prefecture (Mabe oysters). Japanese pearls are cultivated on the Rias coast in selected areas with calm inland waters. Nutrient-rich inlets nurture high-quality pearls, and the cold and warm seawater helps to improve the texture of the pearls. Japan's four seasons provide the perfect natural environment for pearl cultivation.

In Japan, there is a man who devoted his life to pearls and was called the “King of Pearls” who has left his mark on history. Kokichi Mikimoto, the founder of Mikimoto Pearl Store (now Mikimoto), was a Japanese businessman who made his fortune through pearl cultivation and its branding. In 1893, Kokichi Mikimoto became the first person in the world to successfully cultivate pearls, a feat that no one had been able to achieve until then, and his name is now etched in history. Until then, natural pearls were extremely rare and expensive, as only one pearl could be found in every 1,000 shells. Kokichi decided to produce them himself, and in 1893 he succeeded in cultivating the world's first semi-circular pearls. Later, he also cultivated round pearls, black butterfly pearls, and white butterfly pearls. At the same time, the company focused on training talented craftsmen by sending them to Europe to learn the most advanced jewelry design and production techniques of the time, such as Art Nouveau and Art Deco. The “Mikimoto Style” was born from the successful fusion of European production techniques and traditional Japanese techniques. In this way, Mikimoto was not only the founder of cultured pearls, but also opened the door to the history of modern Japanese jewelry. Kokichi, who also demonstrated a talent for promoting pearls, used his ingenuity to attract the public's attention to his pearls, not only by relying on newspapers and advertisements, but also by actively exhibiting his products at overseas expositions to sending Mikimoto out into the world and make a strong impression. However, in 1921, a London newspaper reported that “cultured pearls sold by Japanese pearl merchants are imitations of natural pearls and are a fraudulent business practice.” In Paris, the cultured pearls were also under scrutiny, leading to a civil lawsuit, which Mikimoto won. In 1927, on a visit to Europe and the United States, Kokichi was told by Edison, “These are true pearls, not cultured pearls. There are two things my laboratory could not produce. One is diamonds and the other is pearls. It is a marvel of the world that you have invented and perfected the pearl, which was thought to be impossible from a zoological standpoint.” It is said that the words of someone who truly understood the concept of invention greatly encouraged Kokichi.

What comes to mind when you think of how to select pearls? We tend to focus on “size” and “shape,” but what is really important is “teri” and “maki.” Teri is composed of two types of reflections, surface and internal, and is determined by the thickness of the maki. The thickness of the maki is the number of layers around the nucleus, and the more regular the cross-sectional structure is, the more beautiful the teri will be. Looking at pearls with this point of view, it is likely to be possible to grasp the difference one step deeper.

Ginza has the Mikimoto Ginza 4-chome main store and the modern 2-chome building on Namiki-dori. In this city where the number of foreign tourists has become very large, I feel very proud that a Japanese jewelry brand is continuing to introduce the highest quality Japanese pearls to the world.

Mikimoto Ginza 4-chome Main Store
https://www.mikimoto.com/jp_jp/ginza-main-store
Mikimoto Ginza 2-chome Store
https://www.mikimoto.com/jp_jp/ginza2-store
Ginza Showroom
https://www.shokunin.com/en/showroom/ginza.html

References
https://www.mikimoto.com/jp_jp/brand-story
https://karatz.jp/gia-interview-new-pearl-report/
https://www.tbs.co.jp/matsuko-sekai/archive/202411122/