posted on 3 February 2011 | posted in Fashion
Kokichi Mikimoto is said to be the father of the modern cultured pearl industry. Although in the strictest terms this is not entirely correct he did have a pioneering role in both developing the modern techniques for culturing pearls and convincing the public and the jewellery industry to accept the resulting freshwater pearl jewellery as worthwhile and valuable. Mikimoto was born in Toba City in Japan n 1858 and was the eldest son of a family that ran a noodle restaurant. He began raising oysters and in the late 1890s had a patent on a process for culturing mabes (hemispherical pearls) He continued his research and in the early 1900s acquired a patent for culturing spherical pearls. In the following years he was an tireless advocate of the new culturing process and the resultant gems and his efforts opened up new markets for cultured pearls resulting in the pearl industry that exists today. He received numerous honours and awards during his lifetime and died in 1954 at the age of 96.