| In the August 1985 National Geographic article "The Pearl" by Fred Ward, there is this quotation from a Mr. Hamaguchi of the Yamakatsu Pearl company (pages 205-206):
"Before 1960 we kept the oysters in the water for two and a half years. Then we dropped the time to one and a half years and held there until 1979. Now the culture takes six to eight months. It's all a matter of time and money." |