Jewelry History
The History of Mikimoto Pearls
In 1888, Mikimoto Kokichi, together with his partner and wife, Ume Mikimoto, obtained a loan to start his first pearl farm at the Shinmei inlet on Ago Bay in Mie prefecture. After many failures and near bankruptcy, Mikimoto created the hemispherical cultured pearl. It took 12 more years to create the completely spherical cultured pearl but it wasn’t until 1920 that the first commercial pearl farms were in production. Biologist,...
History of Boucheron
Frederic Boucheron opened his first store in 1858 in the Galerie de Valois at Palais Royal. In 1893, Frederic Boucheron moved to 26 Place Verdome where the store still stands today. Legend has it that he selected this location, the first on the block, because it was the sunniest corner and he believed diamonds would sparkle more brilliantly. He later opened a store in Moscow which later moved to St....
History of David Webb
David Webb, jewelry creator and designer of David Webb rings, bracelets and necklaces was born in Asheville, North Carolina in 1925. He lived in a boarding house with his mother. The boarding house, known as the Carolina Bed & Breakfast, was run by his mother during the Great Depression. At the age of 17, David Webb moved to New York and in 1945, together with his partner Nina Silberstein, opened...
The History of Jean Schlumberger
Jean Schlumberger, born into a family textile manufacturing family on January 24, 1907, loved the art of drawing. Dissuaded from this love of drawing, his family sent him to Berlin in 1930 to pursue a career in banking. The next year, defiant Schlumberger moved to Paris to “develop his artistic creativity”. Schlumberger enlisted in the French army during World War II, in England's army under General Charles de Gaulle and in...