If it weren’t for Kokichi Mikimoto, we might be living in a world without pearls. As a young man growing up in a seaside Japanese village, Mikimoto observed the diminishing supply of natural pearls ...

Every item on this page was chosen by a Town & Country editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. If it weren’t for Kokichi Mikimoto, we might be living in a world without ...

The Mikimoto empire owns patents for the manufacture of cultured pearls, produces pearls on an exclusive pearl island and produces its own line of champagne. During his lifetime, Mikimoto even met ...

Whilst natural pearls can only be produced by a freakish accident of mother nature, her artistry can be mimicked. This son of a noodle-maker replicated nature’s occasional masterpieces and paired them ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Kate Matthams Spencer is a Paris-based writer who covers jewelry. The Comme des Garçons x Mikimoto ad, shot by Kazumi Kurigami and ...

In a modest, unpainted four-room house atop a narrow headland overlooking Japan’s Ago Bay, a wizened little man in a brown kimono and a black derby hat shuffled about in a pearly haze. He was Kokichi ...

Founded in Ginza, Japan, in 1893, Mikimoto is a high-end jeweler that specializes in cultured pearls. Industry experts and consumers with an affinity for the stone worldwide often regard the brand as ...