1932, Time magazine reported a story: In Kobe, an island country in Japan, 75-year-old Yuji Miki burned 720,000 cultured pearls at one time. At that time, many people thought his behavior was crazy, but now, his name is equivalent to innovation, foresight and genius.
From the poor boy in the Bird Feather Noodle Restaurant to the father of pearls worth hundreds of millions, Xueyimeiji's life is closely related to the pearl industry in Japan and even the whole world.
As the eldest son of the family, Yoshiki Yuji worked to support his family since he was a child. At the age of 23, he began to engage in aquaculture. In this process, he noticed that due to the high price of natural pearls and too many people engaged in fishing, the number of mother shells that can raise pearls was greatly reduced. In order to protect the mother shellfish in his hometown from overfishing, he decided to study artificial pearl culture.
Mikimoto has developed from a small workshop with only husband and wife at that time to a leading supplier of cultured pearls in the world.
In addition to Japanese Agoya pearls, Mikimoto also uses imported Nanyang Golden Beads, French Tahiti Black Beads and Pink Beads.
Yujimu Yukichi focuses on the pearl breeding industry, subverting the traditional jewelry industry and letting pearls that were originally difficult to find enter the homes of ordinary people.
Burning pearls in public is not only because of the overproduction of artificial pearls, but more importantly, the quality is not up to standard.
The burning incident not only told consumers that Mikimoto's products were of high quality, but also pushed up the global pearl price by 30%. Up to now, the founder's concept of "providing customers with the best quality products" has been passed down by the brand.
During pearl cultivation, Mikimoto established the world's earliest artificial pearl cultivation island near Kobe coast.
At present, the island not only produces pearls, but also is a tourist attraction operated by the company to display pearls and craft products.
The cultivation period of pearls in Mikimoto is 3-4 years, and the value of each pearl is determined by its size, shape, color, luster and degree of defects.
Pearl pickers in Mikimoto will delete a batch of pearls first, and then a special person will sort them more carefully. It is said that only 65,438+00% of each batch of pearls will be used for brand jewelry (another way of saying it is 5%), the rest will be sold to dealers, and the other part will be used to make the raw material of the company's beauty brand MIKIMMOTO COMESTIC: pearl powder.
Mikimoto jewelry designer revealed that the daily work is mainly commodity planning, while looking at raw materials such as pearls and precious stones, drawing design drawings.
Up to now, brands have followed the ancient method, drawing with extremely fine pen and ink-hand drawing can convey the designer's intention to craftsmen better than drawing with computer. After the design drawings are completed, we will discuss the production process with the craftsmen. In the production process, both parties need to confirm for many times whether there is deviation from the design drawings and the final use feeling of the goods.
In Mikimoto Jewelry Workshop, it takes at least ten years for an apprentice to make jewelry from the moment he enters the company.
Even for the British royal family thousands of miles away, most of the pearls and various ornaments on the back crown come from this brand. Grace in Grace Kelly, Monaco once wore Mikimoto's pearl necklace.
In addition to the royal family, many celebrities and nobles at home and abroad also favor this brand.
During the 2065 438+06 G7 Summit, the Japanese gifts received by the wives of heads of state were Mikimoto's pearl ornaments.
Rihanna, in our six-story store in Ginza, Mikimoto, there is a pearl necklace that Marilyn Monroe once wore.
Craft products are one of the reasons why Mikimoto is famous internationally.
1926, at the Philadelphia Expo, Mikimoto exhibited a pearl pagoda based on Horyuji: Pentecostal Pagoda, made of 12760 pearls.
Mikimoto's other work that attracted worldwide attention was the World Expo held in new york in 1936. At that time, Mikimoto made a liberty bell with 12250 pearls and 366 diamonds. Liberty bell itself has cracks. When Mikimoto re-carved, he specially inlaid a crack with blue pearls. Liberty bell made of this pearl is also called "Million Dollar Clock".
At the 1937 Paris World Expo, Mikimoto's multifunctional and changeable buckle "Yaguruma" consolidated Mikimoto's position in the high-end jewelry industry. Yaguruma is a waist ornament that can be divided into twelve ornaments at the same time. Yashe not only created the design of multifunctional jewelry, but also was one of the masterpieces in the history of Japanese decoration.
From 65438 to 0969, MIKIMOTO's pearl brooch "prelude to space" won the De Beers International Diamond Design Award, which was the first time that the brand won the first prize in the international jewelry design competition.
From 2002 to 2007, Mikimoto was also the official sponsor of Miss Universe, and during this period, she designed and produced the laurels for each Miss Universe. All laurels are produced in Pearl Island, Japan.
In 20 13, in order to celebrate the 20th anniversary of brand establishment13, craftsmen in Mikimoto spent two years designing and producing a crown: dream flower.
There is a pearl embedded in the center of 12 flowers with different shapes in the crown. The entire crown contains 3,400 diamonds and five rare pearls, such as white pearls, peacock pearls and conch pearls, all of which were artificially cultivated in Mikimoto. This crown can be divided into necklaces, bracelets, brooches, earrings and other 1 1 ornaments.
MIKIOTO has been concerned about environmental protection for a long time. The company has realized zero-emission artificial pearl cultivation, and all the wastes and residues produced by the mother of pearl cultivation are recycled. Reused pearls will also be used to make fertilizers, medicines and other products.