An curved arrow pointing right. At Pearl Factory, customers can handpick their very own oyster. Once they've opened the oyster, they can create jewelry with their pearl. More from Entertainment At ...

An curved arrow pointing right. South Sea pearls are the largest cultured-pearl variety, sometimes reaching over 20 millimeters in diameter. The Pinctada maxima oyster can take up to five years to ...

But since 1994, something has been killing off the akoyas of Ago Bay, the heart of Japan's cultured-pearl business, and elsewhere in the country. Experts attribute the initial oyster deaths in ...

Lapping green waters fringe the Kujukushima Islands off the coast of Sasebo in Nagasaki. Fields of pearl oysters sleep just beneath their surface. The shell beds are farmed by Tasaki, the Japanese ...