Ago Bay is the “ancestral land” of the world pearl farming founded by Kokichi Mikimoto since 1888. Statistics show that there are more than 300 artificial pearl farms in the region, most of which have been passed down through generations. like the Tanabe Pearl Farm with the Tanabe Pearl Farm brand that has been around for 70 years and they are still looking forward to the 100 year mark.

Pearl farming in Ago Bay has been the successor to the techniques of Kokichi’s ancestors for more than 150 years, so the farms here have always been at the forefront of the technology of the world’s pearl culture industry. But the main thing is that Ago Bay preserves the pristine landscape, rich mineral resources of the sea to help the pearl develop well, which scientists have identified as an unrivaled unique breeding area for artificial pearls in the world.

Pearl culture process in Ago bay

To create an Ago pearl, firstly, you need to find the seeds to be reared for 2 years, then in the 3rd year, you will start to multiply into the breeding pearl. With weak seed, only 1 year later can be harvested but the quality is only average. To get good beads, the process from transplanting to harvest takes at least 2 years. In the process of raising with a total of 5 years time for a harvest, the number of mussels died a lot, that harshness has made the value of Ago pearls in the Gulf. It is called artificial pearl but the living environment and conditions of pearl are natural environment.

Ago pearls are formed mainly from Akoya oysters – a unique oyster of Japan so different from other types of pearls in the shade and variety of colors such as cream, light pink, light gray, blue gray , lime yellow, bright white, dark gray … These colors are due to the main source of minerals including nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potassium followed by rain through the rock of Ago region and emptied into the sea. At the same time, the fresh water in Ago Bay is also the place where many species of phytoplankton grow, which is the source of nutrition for Akoya oysters.

The birth of a mussel takes about 5 years. The process resulted in half of the cultured clams dying, leaving only about 30% capable of creating gems, and only 1% of which produced beautiful gems. That is why the pearls of Ago Bay always reach very high prices in the market.

Ago pearls – the world famous Japanese pearl brand

Evaluation of an Ago pearl like?

A pearl is assessed to be beautiful thanks to its color, luster, evenness, and size is a secondary factor. The size of an artificial pearl depends on the size of the implant, for example the smallest pearl of Tanabe Pearl is 3mm, the larger one may be 10mm or more. The technique to create small and large pearls is equally difficult, because when creating small pearls, it is necessary to transplant many seeds at the same time requiring meticulous techniques, careful but high probability of harvesting, while creating small size seeds Large, not only difficult transplant techniques but also very low probability of harvest.

When evaluating the quality and beauty of artificial pearls cultured from Ago Bay in Mie Prefecture, Japan, the great inventor Thomas Edison – owner of 1093 patents once said: “This is not is an artificial cultured pearl, but a real pearl. ”

Tanabe Pearl Farm – famous pearl brand in Ago Bay

It is impossible not to say that Ago Bay is the cradle of pearls, this is also the place where many world famous pearl brands are originated and Tanabe Pearl is one of these brands. In a gift from the Japanese government to heads of state attending the G7 summit in Ise Shima, Mie Prefecture in May 2016, there was a special gift made of countless tiny pearl beads. of Tanabe Pearl in Ago Bay area. The jewelry design is a masterpiece from a jewelry design competition in Japan, and among pearl farms, Tanabe is the rare place to create tiny pearls (Baby Pearl) – in the world. There are only 3 places that can create tiny beads like this.

Ago Pearl – Tanabe Pearl Farm

Tanabe Pearl is now managed by Tomokazu Tanabe, he is also the third owner of the Tanabe Pearl brand with a 70-year history. In addition, Tomokazu is also a familiar figure in the pearl jewelry industry in Japan, Tanabe Pearl’s products are available in most major markets around the world such as Hong Kong, Germany, USA, Canada, Taiwan, China,