What are Cultured Pearls?
Pearl Knowledge
Today all pearls with a very few exceptions are cultured pearls. In 1905, Kokichi Mikimoto began experimenting with native Japanese Akoya shells and discovered the beginnings of culturing pearls. His experiments, although there are many different techniques, are the foundation of pearl farming all over the world today. Pearl farms can be in freshwater lakes or rivers or in saltwater seas in atolls or very calm waters.