# The Perfect Pearl

For centuries, man has risked both life and life savings to possess the pearl's beauty. Pure and perfect, glowing and dazzling, a pearl is actually a mistake formed when an oyster reacts to an irritant lodged in its shell. Go back to the late 18th century to meet Kokichi Mikimoto, who developed a technique for culturing pearls that's still used today. Travel to a Japanese oyster hatchery to see how technology is advancing pearl cultivation. Watch divers search for the immense pearls found in the world's largest oyster, the Pinctada maxima . See a strand of South Sea perfect pearls worth $2.3 million. And discover little-known facts as authors, zoologists, scientists and pearl experts reveal the pearl's wondrous history. 1 videocassette (approximately 60 min.) : 1/2 in VHS Narrator, Peter Thomas Director of photography, Jenni Meaney ; editors, Denise Haslam, Hebry Dangar, Stephanie Munroe ; music composers, Alistair Jones, Ray Loring Originally broadcast as an episode of Nova

- Kind: Documentary
- Year: 1998
- By: Megan McMurchy (Author) (Producer), Stephen Sweigart (Producer), Trevor Graham (Director), Andrew Waterworth (Author), John Patterson (Author), Peter Thomas…
- Genres: Documentary
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/ThePerfectPearl)
- Licence or status: none stated by the archive
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/ThePerfectPearl?play=1)