How does Mikimoto authenticate their pearls?

[eletons]

Hello, Pearl lovers,

It looks like there are a lot of people writing to ask members here about authentication questions about Mikimoto.

I wonder how Mikimoto authenticate their pearls when a vintage one is brought in for them for inspection or for restringing?

Are Mikimoto's pearls look the same like any others especially the more affordable ones?

Thank you for your help.

 

[BWeaves]

Mikimoto pearls do not look like your average more affordable pearls.

Now if you were to string a very high quality Hanadama strand with a Mikimoto clasp, it's possible that they might not be able to tell the difference, but the pearls would have to be a very good match to real Mikimoto pearls.

I have a strand of natural white Hanadama pearls from Pearl Paradise. They are gorgeous. But they do not look like the strand of Mikimoto pearls that my mother bought. They are both gorgeous, but they do not look the same.

I also have a strand of Blue Lagoon pearls from my Aunt Love. These are Mikimoto's lesser quality brand. They are extremely high quality, but even they do not look like Mikimoto brand pearls.

 

[eletons]

Mikimoto pearls do not look like your average more affordable pearls.

Now if you were to string a very high quality Hanadama strand with a Mikimoto clasp, it's possible that they might not be able to tell the difference, but the pearls would have to be a very good match to real Mikimoto pearls.

I have a strand of natural white Hanadama pearls from Pearl Paradise. They are gorgeous. But they do not look like the strand of Mikimoto pearls that my mother bought. They are both gorgeous, but they do not look the same.

I also have a strand of Blue Lagoon pearls from my Aunt Love. These are Mikimoto's lesser quality brand. They are extremely high quality, but even they do not look like Mikimoto brand pearls.

Thank you for your reply.

Yes, I was thinking the same. I have been thinking about whether to get all my pearl wish list from Mikimoto or just get a set and then get the rest from non-branded companies.

Going through the threads here, it seems like a lot of people would like to know whether the strand they have at hand is the authentic Mikimoto or not so it means something from Mikimoto has different value than a non-branded one.

I have been wondering because some people said if you get a Granpearl strand, then it's the same as a Miki strand or even better than Miki. I really doubted that because it is said that Miki got to pick their top graded pearls at the auction and there's a strict limit to access to those auctions for the top graded pearls.

How about the medium graded pearls from Mikimoto? I understand the top graded ones are easy to tell it's from Miki, but what about their medium graded ones such as the A+ ones?

Thanks again for your reply.

 

[BWeaves]

All Miki's pearls are top quality. Even Miki's B level in their Blue Lagoon brand are top quality.

As far as comparing them. It depends on whose pearls you are comparing them to, and what quality level.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Back when I first bought my Freshadama pearls (earring-grade freshwater pearls from Pearl Paradise) I took them to Bailey Banks & Biddle jewelers to compare with their Mikimoto strands.
The luster of my freshwaters was comparable to Mikimoto A1 grade pearls (A1 is a step below A).

 

[jeg]

eletons, I think it really depends on how important the brand name is to you. Comparing pearls within a company, across companies, is so difficult because there are so many factors. A big factor is just timing. Inventory and availability are constantly changing, so what you compare today will be different next week. I was recently in the Ginza Mikimoto and looked at a pair of earrings that had a beautiful pair of pearls in the setting. If I went back today, they might have the same setting with a pair of pearls that would not catch my eye.

 

[eletons]

I want to conduct an experiment to see if Mikimoto can recognise their pearls.

Buy one AAA from mikimoto and another strand in supearl or grandpearl quality and after maybe 10 years of the same regular use, bring in the grandpearl or supearl strand with mikimito hardware and ask them to restring for me. Just to see if they can tell it's not their strand.

I have asked my SA at Mikimito on how they can recognise their pearls. The SA said that at the store, they just do primary check. They have pearl master at the back office to check for authenticity. Basically, I can't get a clue as to what to look for when it comes to authenticity of Mikimoto pearls.

I wish there's more information about authentication of Mikimoto pearls.