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NOVA
1974
Published on, 9 months ago
NOVA
The Perfect Pearl 25 Season 20 Episode
55 min
1974
7.1
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.
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