Cultured pearl
Perla cultivada
- Date
- 1893 / 1907-1916 · confidence high
- Place
- Ojima Island (Mikimoto Island), Toba, Mie, Japan
- Credited to
- Mikimoto Kōkichi; Nishikawa Tokichi and Mise Tatsuhei (spherical pearl)
- People
- 👤 Mikimoto Kōkichi1858–1954
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Insertion of a nucleus and mantle tissue into pearl oysters so they form a pearl. Mikimoto achieved hemispherical pearls in 1893, and the technique for spherical pearls was patented around 1907-1916.
Credit for the spherical pearl was disputed among Mikimoto, Nishikawa and Mise; there were earlier Chinese precedents of Buddha-shaped pearls.
What it led to
- Japan's cultured-pearl industry
- the collapse of the natural pearl market of the Persian Gulf