PEARL FARMS CLOSING

Greymouth Evening Star, 27 July 1936, Page 2

PEARL FARMS CLOSING

NEW STAGE IN CULTIVATION

LONDON, June 1

Japan’s pearl “king,” Mr. Kokichi Mikimoto, has arranged to close several of his pearl farms because of a slump in the value of cultivated pearls, according to a British United Press message from Tokio. It was stated in London yesterday, however, that the farms had been closed to avoid over-production, not because of a decline in the market. Cultivated pearls are produced I)s' inserting an irritant substance into the oyster. Sometimes a mother-of-pearl "bead is used, sometimes a piece of sand or a small shot. The natural pearl forms round a fragment of sand which has found its way into the oyster.

The difference between the (wo types of pearl is so slight as to be apparent onls' to an expert. A representative of Messrs. Mikimoto in London explained yesterday that the art of pearl cultivation has reached such a stage that the economic production limit can be achieved with fewer farms.

A London dealer in precious stones declared that the popularity of all kinds of jewellery, the pearl included, is waning. “1 put it down to the modern tendency to spend money on more practical things—houses, motor cars and radio sets,” he said.