For millennia, pearls were among the most precious and rarest gems. The cultured pearl changed everything.
Natural pearls: absolute rarity
Out of thousands of oysters, a handful contained pearls. Pearl diving in the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean, Ceylon. Catherine de' Medici, Elizabeth I, Marie Antoinette — all depicted covered in pearls.
Mikimoto: taming the sea
Born 1858 in Toba, Japan. First semi-round cultured pearl 1893. Perfectly round pearls 1905.
The market revolution
Paris court 1921: cultured pearls are real pearls. The Persian Gulf pearl industry disappeared within a generation.
Geographic expansion
1960s: Tahitian pearls in French Polynesia. 1960s-70s: South Sea pearls in Australia. 1980s-2000s: China revolutionised freshwater pearls.
Pearls today
Contemporary trends value baroques, keshi, free forms. Pearls & Colors is heir to this history — a Monegasque house selecting pearls at source.
