SANDA 2183

AKOYA PEARLS are pearls from Japanese periculture. The Japanese were the first to discover the possibility of cultivating oyster pearls in the 1990s.
Before then, pearls were very rare. Only a certain elite could afford to employ divers to search for pearls at the bottom of the sea and close to the coast.
To counter this problem, in the 1990s the Japanese developed a technique for cultivating pearls in their oysters.
Akoya Pearls come from Pinctada Fucata Martensii oysters that are 7 to 8 centimetres in diameter. This diameter, which is quite small for a pearl-growing oyster, gives the pearl a better nacre layer and greater resistance.
To cultivate these pearls, the operator introduces an irritating object called a graft into one of these oysters. To defend itself, the oyster will surround the object with a layer of mother-of-pearl; its value will then be determined by its brilliance and thickness.
Symbolically, it is also reputed to confer spiritual protection and prosperity on its owner.