Mikimoto reports 'astounding' akoya harvest-Industry News-Magazine-IRISPANCY FASHION ACCESSORIES & JEWELRY

	Shopping bag \| \| My account \| Favorite \| Help \| Contact us \| Login or Register \| Logout

Jewelry \| Apparel & Accessories \| Bags & Accessories \| Magazine \| Business & Franchise Necklaces \| Bracelets \| Earrings \| Rings \| Pendants \| Jewelry Sets Brooches \| Hair Accessories \| Belts \| Caps \| Scarves \| Gloves \| Shoes \| Socks IRISPANCY Bags \| IRISPANCY Bags Accessories Vogue and Trend \| Mix and Match \| Celebrity \| Fortune \| Fun and Love \| Small Business \| Product knowledge \| Market Survey \| Expo Information \| Industry News Boutiques \| Sales Policy \| Franchise \| Events and Activities \| OEM and ODM

Magazine > Industry News > News Content

Mikimoto reports 'astounding' akoya harvest

8/6/2009 3:42:04 PM

Tokyo--A new akoya pearl farm venture located in an open-sea area in Japan's Fukuoka Prefecture has yielded a bounty of "excellent pearls" of large size and good quality, with owner K. Mikimoto and Co. citing the harvest as a major advance in pearl cultivation for the much-prized pearl variety.

"The results have been astounding at this new akoya pearl farm," the company said in a release shared exclusively with National Jeweler, describing Mikimoto Hakata Pearl Culturing Co.'s pearl farm in Ainoshima, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. "While the number of large-sized Japanese akoya pearls of the highest quality has been decreasing in recent years, Mikimoto can now continue to ensure its stable supply at [the pearl farm in] Ainoshima, heralding a new beginning for both Mikimoto and the jewelry industry as a whole."

The akoya pearl industry has been struggling with scarcity for more than a decade, ever since Japan's akoya pearl-producing oyster population was decimated back in the mid 1990s by what experts believed was a mix of factors including pollution, disease and a 1994 "red tide" that brought microscopic, toxin-producing animals into the waters where pearl oysters were harvested.

Since that time, the Chinese freshwater pearl industry has been growing rapidly with the quality of its pearls improving in turn, although Japanese akoyas, particularly in the 6- to 7-millimeter size range have remained coveted commodities.

This past winter at Ainoshima, pearls were harvested from 10,000 akoya pearl oysters that had been raised to maturity over the past four years. Nearly 12,000 pearls harvested exhibit the high quality for which Mikimoto pearls are renowned, with high luster and good color unique to Japanese akoyas, the company said.

"Cultivating pearls using native oysters in this area heralds an important new advance in Japanese pearl production, at a time when the amount of high-quality akoya pearls is feared to be decreasing," the company said.

Mikimoto Hakata Pearl Culturing Co., a subsidiary of K. Mikimoto and Co., was founded in January 2007 with the goal of launching a new akoya cultivation business, using home-grown, disease-free, natural pearl oysters discovered in Ainoshima in 2000. The company's research laboratory, K. Mikimoto and Co. Ltd. Pearl Research Laboratory, has been working with scientists from the Fukuoka Fisheries and Marine Technology Center, Kyusuu University and Shingu Ainoshima Fisheries Corp. on the pearl-culturing project at Ainoshima.

Although the pearl farm is young, its harvest was a surprise because of the unusually high percentage of good-quality pearls. The success is being attributed to "thorough preservation" of the farm environment, where oysters enjoyed favorable living conditions during the culturing period. The goal for 2010 is to harvest pearls from 50,000 akoya oysters, with the number of oysters to be harvested expected to grow to 200,000 within the next three years, the company said.

One thing that sets the new farm apart is its location in the open sea, since it was previously assumed that closed, calm waters were best for pearl production, the company said.

"This new farming site is not contaminated by diseases and is a habitat for healthy, natural akoya oysters," the company said. "Additionally, its environmental conditions, including water temperature and the larger types of akoya pearl oysters, are all appropriate for pearl culturing."

Experiments have revealed that the farming site is rich in phytoplankton to feed the pearl oysters, and that its tidal current is moderate, allowing the oysters to grow and produce excellent pearls of "large size and good quality," with mortality rates of the oysters very low, the company said.

In recent years, the K. Mikimoto and Co. Ltd. Pearl Research Laboratory in Japan has been working on the research of "Heterocapsa circularisquama red tides" and the Reddening Adductor Disease, which are causes of abnormal mortality among akoya pearl oysters. In 2003, the laboratory's measure to reduce damage by the Reddening Adductor Disease won a "Technical Achievement Award" from the Japanese Society of Fisheries Science.

	Related News
	- Profit reports push Dow to best July in 20 years(8-2)
	- LVMH reports slight uptick in first half(7-28)
	- Shoe Carnival reports Q1 results(5-29)
	- Urban Outfitters reports Q1 earnings(5-14)
	- Blue Nile reports better-than-expected 1Q results(5-11)
	- Hanesbrands reports Q1 loss, to lay off 250 jobs(4-29)
	- Le Château reports record year-end earnings(4-18)
	- Rough diamond exporting, importing reports due(3-27)
	- Swatch Watches & Jewelry segment reports higher sales in 2008(3-15)
	- La-Z-Boy Reports Fiscal 2009 Third-Quarter Results(2-18)

Bussiness Partnership

Jewelry business opportunity

FAQ about products

JP Renaissance Enterprises Corporation, an active fashion and gift company that provides fashion accessories and jewelry. We expanded our branches in Asia and North America, now, we devote ourselves on globalization by deploying unique designs and concepts. Our designers put their efforts on introducing innovative ideas, integrating creative and trendy elements and developing new style, such as integrating the nature into our products. Our fashion accessories and jewelry are capable to give you a different fashion ideas, a different way to dress, and can surprise your friends, lover, parents, clients by sending them special gifts on holiday or in special events. The products are not only fashion symbols but also tools to communicate, for example, you can use our new fashion and gift guides as an interesting topic among girls, or share the experience of our online jewelry store or the latest shoes. hats and socks with your friends..

Furthermore, we provide graceful bags description and attractive hair accessories models with professional wholesale and retail business. for examples, we not only sell winter scarf, silver crystal jewellery, handmade beaded earrings and urban clothing as a manufacturer and wholesaler, but also provide limited version dressing expertise. Besides, while outputing luxurious goods and service, we also offer value packs and free gift cards, such as costless dress, complimentary caps on special events.

Clients all over the world can enjoy our products and service through the internet. For instance, buyers from Stockton - California - United States, Glasgow - - - UK and Juneau - Alaska - United States.

Our online Fashion Magazine, on the other hand, presents information about top holiday gifts guides, hair styles, life style trends, potfolio fashion tips, what to wear on casual days, dressing tips, dressing guides or general fashion tips for women and for men, hats and socks industry news, product kownledge about gold pendants, handmade jewelry and victorian crown brooch diamond, fashion shows...

www.irispancy.com IRISPANCY FASHION ACCESSORIES & JEWELRY