Pearl King; the story of the fabulous Mikimoto..

Prior to the work of Kokichi Mikimoto, real pearls were found in oyster beds where the gems were formed by chance.  Mikimoto came from a humble background, and with great determination and ingenuity, he devised a method that helped oysters form the nacre around a bead that was manually inserted into the shell.

Mikimoto of America the site for the pearl company has a brief history of its founder.