Pearl Guide

Keshi Pearls Defined
A keshi pearl is a non-beaded pearl formed by accident, as a by-product of the pearl culturing operation.

Akoya Keshi Pearls

How Keshi Pearls Are Formed
Keshi pearls are formed when the oyster rejects and spits out the implanted nucleus before the culturing process is complete, or the implanted mantle tissue dislodges and forms a separate pearl sac without the nuclei. These pearl sacs eventually produce pearls without a nucleus.

Keshi Pearls Can have Salt or...

Tahitian Pearls, The Early Years

Tahitian pearls retained popularity throughout the South Pacific as a gem of beauty and rarity, but the pearls were, for much of their early years, unheard of in Western markets.

Jean-Claude Brouillet Starts a Tahitian Pearl Farm

It was not until businessman Jean-Claude Brouillet purchased a South Marutea atoll and started a Tahitian pearl farm in 1975 that Tahitian pearls began to infiltrate the world market.

Brouillet began working with a well-known...

Culturing Tahitian Pearls
By Josh Humbert of Kamoka Pearls (KamokaPearls.com).

Tahitian pearls are cultured in lagoons surrounded by atolls in French Polynesia using the Pinctada margaritifera mollusk (pearl oyster).


Collecting the Baby Oysters

Oysters start their lives as free-swimming plankton in the lagoon. After three weeks of swimming, they begin to grow shells and search for a surface onto which they can attach. Farmers set out collectors during strategic times of year (usually...

Kokichi Mikimoto

Kokichi Mikimoto's contribution to the cultured pearl industry cannot be overstated. While he may not have single-handedly invented the industry, he played a pivotal role in its development and widespread acceptance of the Japanese akoya pearl. Born in Toba City, Japan, in 1858, Mikimoto's father sold noodles for a living. Little did he know that his passion for pearls would shape his destiny and revolutionize the world of jewelry.

Mikimoto's journey into pearl cultivation...

Last February, as I made my way through the new JCK Tucson show, I almost missed discovering Isabelle Langlois. Fortunately, on my way out, I slowed down to scrutinize a display case and saw an amazing pair of pearl earrings.

The pearls were inset into what appeared to be swirls of pink shell enamel. I asked if I could take a photograph and Bruno, Business Development Manager for Isabelle Langlois, said that they were too new and he wouldn't be able to get permission while I was at the...

Japanese Akoya Pearls Defined

Japanese Akoya Pearls is a term often used as a misnomer to describe all cultured akoya pearls. This is no longer an industry accepted term as akoya pearls are now also grown in China, South Korea, Vietnam and Australia. Japanese akoya pearls is the correct term applied to akoya pearls grown in Japan, and often applied to akoya pearls that have been processed in Japan, regardless of provenance.

An example of a very fine akoya pearl strand, Pearl Paradise

The...