You should get them appraised. Just got my graduated pearls purchased in Japan 1945 or 1946 (sold to Occupation Forces through Army Exchange Services) and was very surprised Retail replacement value (new) was over $1500
Mikimoto in the 1940s by: Yvonne
I'm sorry I can't be of any more assistance, but unfortunately there's not enough information about the pearls to comment. However, if they were purchased in Japan, they would most probably be Mikimoto akoya pearls. You might like to try getting them appraised in-store.
The date is interesting though, in the chronology of Mikimoto, because during WW2 (1939-45) Mikimoto's shops all around the world closed their doors and production more or less ceased.
Mikimoto publicly distanced himself from the war. After the war, Mikimoto built his business with astonishing rapidity, and by the early 1950s, six million oysters were in their beds, secreting layer upon layer of precious nacre. At the time of his death in 1954, the business had made a staggering recovery.
