Pearls have a long history of being highly prized - they were presented as gifts to Chinese royalty as early as 2300 BC. In Rome, Julius Caesar is said to have passed a law limiting the wearing of pearls only to the ruling classes – making pearl jewellery the ultimate status symbol. Throughout history pearls have adorned both Kings and Queens - being used as embellishments on clothing or taking centre stage within pieces of much coveted jewellery.
The most beautiful, and one of the largest, pearls known is La Régente, weighing in at 302.68 grains, or almost 20g . The egg-shaped pearl has a mysterious past but was known to be owned previously by Emperor Napoleon, as well as Princess Zénaïde of Russia. The pearl fetched a price of $2.5 million dollars when auctioned at Christies, Geneva in 2005.
Pearls are known as organic gems. A pearl is produced when a foreign body, such as a grain of sand or a tiny larval (yes, even tiny tapeworm larvae have been used to produce pearls) enters an oyster shell. This acts as an irritant – like a stone in your shoe – and pro
mpts the oyster to coat the irritant in nacre or mother of pearl, which lines the oyster shell. The continued irritation stimulates the secretion of concentric layers of nacre around this foreign body. Eventually these layers harden and - voila - we have a pearl! However, many of the pearls today – including the ones we find in vintage and antique jewellery – are cultured pearls. Cultured pearls have been produced commercially since 1890 and the process is credited to Kokichi Mikimoto. Mikimoto experimented, and perfected, the process of artificially inserting objects into oysters to initiate the pearl making process.
Pearls are again in favour and highly desired – whether it be a single or multiple string ne
cklace or fabulous creamy, high-lustre earrings. Once more pearls are non-gendered in their appeal and are worn by many A-listers, including Harry Styles (who favours a single string of pearls) and Jennifer Lopez who sported Chanel wrist cuffs when she performed at Joe Biden’s inauguration. As Jackie Kennedy famously said, ““Pearls are always appropriate” and how right she was. Visit our Under the Sea collection to explore our range of vintage and antique pearl jewellery