Cultured Pearls

  • When did pearl farmers begin culturing pearls for the market?
  • What are the main categories of cultured pearls?
  • What are the challenges of culturing abalone pearls?

Although a small but thriving local cultured blister pearl industry had developed in China by 1300, it wasn’t until about 1900 that pearl farmers in Japan began growing and marketing cultured blister pearls and, somewhat later, cultured whole pearls in commercial quantities. Gradually, cultured pearls began to replace natural pearls in the marketplace.

The advent of plastic buttons also played a big role in the growing prominence of cultured pearls. Before plastics, the shells of pearl-bearing mollusks were used to make mother-of-pearl buttons and decorative inlay. Natural pearls were lovely and profitable—but rare—byproducts of the harvest. When plastics replaced mother-of-pearl as buttons, the mollusk harvest plummeted and the number of natural pearls found dropped along with it, creating more opportunities for pearl culturing.

Between the early 1900s and today, the production and sale of cultured whole pearls has far exceeded cultured blister pearls. Pearl culture expanded beyond Japan to many countries and mollusk species. The industry became a mega-million-dollar global enterprise.

Mikimoto
While Japan’s cultured pearl industry arose from the efforts of several individuals, Kokichi Mikimoto is considered its father and driving force.