Mikimoto Pearls – The Legend Behind The Company
If you know anything about pearls or have researched a bit, then undoubtedly yoyu have heard the name Mikimoto mentioned. The cultured pearls and pearl jewelry produced by this company are simply second to none when it comes to beauty and quality. Many shoppers who buy their pieces, say that everything else will feel like cheap imitations once you have tried Mikimoto. The British and Japanese royal families seem to agree!
How Mikimoto pearls are formed: A pearl is the final result of certain shell fish such as oysters and mollusks. The shellfish membrane react when an outside entity enters into the shell, such as a corn of sand. The osyter encapsules the sand to protect it itself and as time goes by the layers of crystalline substance called nacre becomes a pearl. This process can be done artificially and it was Mikimoto who first began doing so.
Kokichi Mikimoto is the man behind the company name and though he didn’t entirely invent this cultivation method, he was the driving force behind modern production of pearls. Being the son of a noodle restaurant owner, there was nothing to suggest Mikimoto would go on to become a known face in Royal courts around the world.
His first many tries at the cultivation process were failures, but like all other inventors, his setbacks did not stop him. He continued to experiment with water temperature and tidal conditions until he finally succeeded.
The turning point finally came in July, 1883, when caught by surprise, his wife Ume found a magnificent artificial pearl inside one of the oysters. That one success was enough to get things moving fast and when Mikimoto died in 1954, his pearls were known all over the world and his name would now be immortal.
When buying pearls from Mikimoto, make sure to look for an ‘M’ embossed into the jewelry somewhere as this is the actual proof that this is the real deal and not a knockoff.
Buy your Mikimoto pearl necklaces at Jewelrymall.com, your one stop for pearl jewelry.