By Cynthia Unninaya
Just like when one first lays eyes on the blue-skinned Na’vi in Avatar, when one first sees a blue akoya pearl, the experience is both exotic and wonderful. With a pioneering spirit, Kitamura Pearls from Japan decided to challenge the traditional standards of beauty in the akoya pearl industry by introducing blue akoya pearl in addition to its existing white akoya pearl business.
Established in 1901, Kitamura Pearls is a multiple award-winning pearl operator with three farms located in Tsushima, Nagasaki. It has received the highest award in the Japan pearl industry, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Prize, for several times. Currently their scope of business includes cultivation, processing, wholesaling, export, and retail of akoya pearls and akoya pearl jewellery. Household names such as Tasaki and Mikimoto are among their clientele.
Convention dictates that only white and round akoya pearls are considered desirable. Everything else that does not fit the standards will be destroyed. Blue akoya pearl is not new, but they were simply ignored before anyone realises its beauty. If you produce a blue pearl, it is considered a failure by the standards of the industry, said Yusuke Chikazawa, president of Kitamura Pearls, also the fifth generation of the family business.
When Chikazawa first entered the akoya pearl industry 15 years ago, he possessed no knowledge about pearls, but was immediately attracted by blue akoya pearls produced by coincidence. Since then he has concentrated on developing blue akoya pearls while the main business of the company is still white akoya pearls. Though his family does not interfere with his business, there were times when they found it hard to accept and thought Chikazawa was out of his mind. Even today, many akoya pearl practitioners still consider it strange to cultivate and sell blue akoya pearls.
By promoting the blue akoya pearl business, Chikazawa hopes that the industry could keep its mind open and be free from the prejudice that only white round akoya pearl is desirable, as he believes that akoya pearls of all colours are beautiful in their own ways.
According to Chikazawa, oysters that produce blue akoya pearls are located in certain waters but it is impossible to cultivate oysters that exclusively produce blue akoya pearls. While he wished to keep details of their production confidential, he revealed that with the help of technology in farming they could increase the chance of getting blue akoya pearls. Since blue pearls can be found in oysters placed with nuclei of different sizes, they have little control over the size of blue akoya pearls harvested.
After collecting all the blue pearls they found, they will first separate the round pearls from the keshi pearls. Then grading will be carried out according to lustre, intensity of colour and size. While no industry-wide standard is established in terms of colour intensity for blue akoya pearls, Chikazawa relies on his own judgment to grade the pearls. Moreover, Chikazawa emphasised that in white akoya pearls, only about five percent could achieve the highest quality of roundness and lustre. For blue akoya pearls, the proportion is less than one percent.
Due to the rare occurrence of blue akoya pearls, their annual production is limited to 1,000kg. For instance, their 8mm blue akoya pearl with the best colour is sold at over US$90 per piece. In the domestic market they mainly supply loose blue akoya pearls and jewellery directly to end consumers. While they are not the only provider of blue akoya pearls, the quality and quantity of their supply is the highest in Japan, said Chikazawa.
Outside Japan, their blue pearls debuted in the Hong Kong jewellery show in March 2017. Their next stop will be Spain, said Chikazawa. (Photo courtesy: Kitamura Pearls)
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