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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...