Kokichi Mikimoto

Cultured pearls, Japan. Mikimoto, the son of a noodle-shop owner in Toba, produced the first cultured pearls in 1893 by seeding oysters by hand, and spent decades refining the technique with skilled divers and technicians. To counter claims that cultured pearls were fakes, he publicly burned low-quality stock and insisted on strict grading. That turned a rare natural product into a reliable, crafted one sold worldwide.