CULTURED PEARLS
Mr. K. Mikimoto, famous gentleman of Japan, and inventor of the cultured pearl, maintains a beautiful modern shop on Tokyo's Ginza Street where for “a song” in terms of U.S. Dollars, you can buy a perfect necklace of these lustrous gems of the ocean, not to mention pearl earrings, brooches and other lovely things.
Only an expert with the use of an X-Ray can tell the difference between the cultured pearls of Mr. Mikimoto and the wholly natural product which an oyster may accidentally produce. As a matter of fact, the cultured pearl is the natural result of an oyster's way of life. This is how Mr. Mikimoto explains it…
“At first we collect the larvae of pearl oysters which are found freely in the water during the breeding season, and deposit them in selected spots in the ocean bed for three years. At the end of this time, the diving girls plunge to the bottom of the sea to bring up these three-year-old oysters to be sent for the operation.
This operation, very delicate and difficult, consists of inserting a tiny bead into a very specific part of the oyster's anatomy. The bead serves as an irritant, and forms the nucleus of the pearl which the irritated oyster will immediately begin to manufacture.
These oysters are placed in wire cages suspended from wooden rafts floating in the sea, and there, protected from their natural enemies of the deep, they remain for several years, slowly coating the tiny irritant with layers of natural pearl substance. Thus, in due course, the perfect gem is formed.”
Very difficult? Yes, so very difficult that only the Japanese attempt this complicated process. Members of the Caronia Great World Cruise will, of course, be interested in Mr. Mikimoto's beautiful pearls. They will find them not only in his own shops in the Ginza and the Imperial Hotel of Tokyo, but also in leading hotels throughout Japan.
[Produced for the Great World Cruise departing New York 25 January 1963]