Cultured Pearls

The growing demand for pearls during the middle ages caused an ongoing decrease of the world’s pearl oyster populations. Consequently, an increased exploration to unveil the secret of the birth of a pearl was carried out through the 19th century. After several attempts undertaken by former and contemporary scientists and researchers, the Japanese Kokichi Mikimoto succeeded in developing a method for cultivating the first, round pearls. This took place in the years 1904-1907. Decades later, pearls were no longer reserved for the royal and noble but accessible for a much broader span of the world’s population.

Today we talk about four major types of cultured pearls: The saltwater cultured pearls Akoya, South Sea and Tahiti pearls, and the freshwater cultured pearls. There are smaller pearl culturing projects going on around the world, of which should be mentioned the precious Cortez Pearl. The same type of pearl oyster as the Tahiti cultured pearl is grown in is also being farmed in Fiji and the Cook Islands. The higher end of cultured pearls from the Cooks is refered to as Avaiki pearls