The History of Fukui Pearl
1. "Opening the Clam to Find Pearls"
Fukui Pearl has been established for more than 20 years. Formerly known as Zhenbei Store, it mainly sells mother-of-pearl crafts. Before opening its first retail store, it had set up stalls in major shopping malls in Hong Kong, including Qianse Store and Zhongyi. It then started pearl farming with the mainland and began to promote a project called "Opening Clams to Find Pearls" in Hong Kong.
In the early stage, we worked with the buffet restaurant at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre to create a special event. Every guest was given a pearl lottery ticket when they arrived. Then the guest could take the lottery ticket to the booth to pick a pearl oyster, and then our colleagues would help open it. This event would always cause a stir. When the oysters were opened, the guests and onlookers would shout "Yes, yes, yes!" in unison.
Of course, everyone is happy if they have pearls, but it won’t be a pity if they don’t have them. Customers who successfully obtain pearls can choose to purchase their favorite jewelry accessories, and finally our colleagues will help them inlay the pearls into jewelry.
This "opening clams to hunt for pearls" activity also allowed us to build up sufficient resources to expand our store network, and inadvertently established the first cornerstone for Hong Kong's future pearl farming industry.
2. Pearl Farming
As early as 2000, Mao Fukui began to expand its retail business in Hong Kong for more than ten years.
In the Mainland, we not only develop the pearl farming industry, but also develop it into a tourism industry with educational elements. Many people come to the pearl farms in the Mainland to experience and learn the technology of pearl farming. Combined with authentic local food, pearls, which are natural gems that are difficult to approach, have been transformed into parent-child activities that are loved by the whole family.
Due to the educational element of the event and the location close to Hong Kong, we were able to share the pearl farming knowledge with different top jewelry industry professionals. As the Hong Kong retail industry was opened up with the free travel and the development of digital technology, we also chose to leave the physical retail market and transform. In other words, the pearl hunting in retail stores is no longer seen.
Nevertheless, we also took advantage of this transformation period to invent Hong Kong’s first pearl ID card technology. This unique technology can solve the problem of counterfeit pearls, a problem that has plagued pearl lovers around the world for thousands of years. This technology, called Metakaku, has helped us successfully win many international cross-industry awards.
We have also successfully started to cultivate pearls with ID cards in pearl farms around the world. Because all inventions are made in Hong Kong, we all have a Hong Kong First sentiment and hope that Hong Kong will be the first place in the world to successfully cultivate pearls with ID cards. On April 28, 2014, we started cultivating pearls in Hong Kong.
Previous reports:
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Oct 2, 2015 |
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Jun 1, 2015 |
3. The start of the pearl farming industry in Hong Kong
Continuing from the previous story, in April 2014, we started to cultivate about 500 pearl oysters in Yung Shue O, Sai Kung in one year with the spirit of Ah Q. At that time, each pearl oyster contained a pearl ID card Metakaku technology.
On that day, about 10 friends and family members attended and witnessed the restart of Hong Kong's pearl farming industry. We chatted casually and checked in to complete a simple launching ceremony. This also laid the first foundation for the restart of pearl farming industry in the future.
What is unforgettable is that the first year of cultivation was completed in a completely unexpected situation. We had hoped to harvest in March or April of the following year. We hoped that the pearls would grow bigger if we cultivated them for a longer time.
The incident occurred in mid-February 2015. We received news from a cooperating fisherman that "a 'red tide' had hit, killing all the pearl oysters."
The next day, when everyone rushed to the pearl farm, only pearls were left. This is how our first harvest was completed...
Although this incident seemed very negative on the surface and could have destroyed our enthusiasm for pearl farming, I would rather be grateful because God personally arranged it, helped us with the harvest, and told us about His blessing.
4. Hong Kong Maritime Pearl Jewellery Workshop
It takes a long time to go from zero to one. In 2014, we moved from Yung Shue O to a fish farm in Manam Wat. During these years, we devoted ourselves to studying different business models and looking for ways to popularize pearls so that everyone can know and love pearls.
We tried to transform pearls from a jewelry retail product into an experience workshop, and this attempt allowed us to discover unprecedented opportunities. At that time, a maritime pearl jewelry workshop only took two hours to complete, and one instructor took charge of the entire process, responsible for arranging multiple projects from beginning to end, including preparation, pearl knowledge teaching, pearl opening experience guidance, and jewelry making teaching. Although it was hard work, we found that even small steps could attract interviews from different media. Because of the help of the media, we suddenly had to increase the number of sessions.
That’s how we came up with the idea of developing a unique marine pearl jewellery workshop in Hong Kong and even in the world. In 2015, we worked with the owner of the fish brand and successfully applied for government funding.
On November 1, 2018, we received notification from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department that our application was successful, and the Hong Kong Pearl Farming Association was officially established.
Fukui Pearl ThePearlFarm Brand Name
Why would a Hong Kong company choose a Japanese name, Fukui, as its Hong Kong brand? Is it because of admiration for Japan? No. The story behind this name can also be traced back to the business transformation in 1989.
At that time, the brand founder, Mr. Wang Yixiang, was originally involved in the ivory trade, but due to the global ban on trade, he had no choice but to transform. With the resources he had, Mr. Wang, who had an international vision, multilingual skills and the spirit of "invincible under the Lion Rock", decided to go to Fukui Prefecture, Japan to start the eyewear trading business. At that time, the eyewear industry in Fukui Prefecture, Japan was the best in the world. Mr. Wang visited the eyewear frame manufacturers and purchased the goods, and then returned to Hong Kong to sell them. At that time, the company was named "Fukui Eyewear Co., Ltd." to commemorate the place.
A year later, when the eyeglass frame business was going well, a Japanese friend suggested that Mr. Wang develop pearl nucleus (pearl seed) production. At that time, the global pearl price was very high, and the price of upstream raw materials, such as pearl nucleus, also benefited. Therefore, Mr. Wang decided to develop a business that was unknown in Hong Kong at that time, the production and supply of pearl nucleus. Without thinking and referring to the names of Japanese pearl nucleus manufacturers, the business name was changed to "Fukui Shell Nucleus Factory". This business has now become the world's largest pearl nucleus manufacturer.
Since our customers are farmers who cultivate pearls, it is natural that we can directly purchase from them. With pearls, we can start the retail business of pearl jewelry. We expanded our business from "Fukui Nucleus Manufacturing" as a pearl nucleus manufacturer to "Fukui Pearl".
Online Store｜https://www.thepearlfarm.com.hk
Shatin Showroom｜Room 10, 2/F, Dali Plaza, 18 On Lai Street, Shatin, New Territories
Contact: +852 2723 2617
(Business hours | By appointment only)
email｜thepearlfarm.online@gmail.com
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#HongkongPearl