Majorica

Majorica traces its origins back to 1890, as a factory producing pearls and other types of costume jewellery. The company’s founder was Eduard Heusch, a German living in Mallorca. The initial aim of the business was to create man-made pearls, using an artisanal process developed from glass-blowing in which a glass nucleus was filled with wax to achieve the same weight as natural pearls. Subsequently, each stage in the process was refined and perfected, resulting in the creation of today’s internationally renowned Majorica pearls.

Over time, the company went from strength to strength and grew rapidly, with international exports to a range of countries including the United States. The Majorica shop, located next to the factory, opened its doors midway through the 1960s when tourism reached the island, in order to enable customers to acquire the finished product directly. Interestingly, during the second half of the 20^th century Mallorca’s most successful tourist activity (along with visiting the Coves del Drach in Porto Cristo) was a guided tour of Majorica’s facilities and a visit to the shop. Although sales efforts were chiefly focused on tourists, the island’s residents were also regular customers.

There is a strong bond between the people of Manacor and Majorica, as the company enabled local women to access the job market and work as “pearlers”. As well as creating a large number of jobs, this also gave rise to a sense of ownership towards the product on the part of local people. During the 1980s and 1990s, the factory and shop received more than half a million visitors. The shop was later moved to a new location some 800 metres from the factory on the outskirts of Manacor.

Majorica remained in the ownership of the Heusch family for three generations, until it was bought by the French-owned SAGA Group in 2004. SAGA ran the factory and shop until 2021, when Majorica was acquired by its current owner, Gregoire Bontoux.