Drops of Beauty
When Mikimoto introduced the first cultured pearls to the market during the early 20th century, he heralded the accessibility of ‘pearls’ to the masses. No longer were they an adornment solely for the aristocracy; as the market boomed with this new and exciting product, natural pearls fell in grace to become the inferior counterpart.
Towards the end of the 1930s commercial pearl-diving dwindled, so it was only a matter of time before the natural pearl, a finite resource, became highly prized. Today, many of the more recently developed affluent areas in the world, where natural pearls originate, have the resources to be competitive enough in the market to buy them back.
A shroud of mystery has shadowed natural pearls throughout history. As one of the earliest adornments, their origin has always been speculated on. To the Greeks they were strikes of lightening into the sea, or frozen tears of the Ancient Roman gods. Until the 17th century it was widely believed that pearls were solidified rain or dew captured by clams. The mystery and conjecture of their origination had only served to make them more desirable. There is no doubt that they are, and were, an indication of wealth and status, to both nobility and royalty. Notably, Pierre Cartier purchased his Fifth Avenue store in 1917 for $100 and a double string of natural pearls.
The largest pearls can be traced back to their royal or noble owners. As a gesture of wealth and decadence, Cleopatra famously consumed a pearl dissolved in vinegar worth 10 million sesterces, the equivalent of 80,000 Roman pounds of gold.
Unlike any other gem, pearls are produced from living organisms and need no faceting or fashioning by human hand, arriving perfectly from their sources – saltwater pearl oysters or freshwater pearl mussels.
In today’s market, discerning buyers look for the largest, perfectly round pearl with the highest lustre and unblemished skin, preferably with a cream/pink hue.
On opening a thousand oysters you might be lucky enough to find one acceptable pearl; the bigger and better the pearl, the rarer it is to find. The Persian Gulf produces the largest and best-quality pearls, the most likely source of the pearls used for the earrings pictured opposite, once owned by the mistress of a Romanian king, which sold for £1.6m in 2012.
The likelihood of finding a single drop-shaped pearl of 34 carats (ap- proximately 7g) pales into insignificance compared with the improbability of finding two. The pair is worth far more than the sum of its parts.
The Indian Ocean produced the highest yield until overtaken by Japanese culturing in the early 20th century. However, pollution caused by the discovery of oil has diminished the supply of natural pearls and consequently they are rarer than ever. It is no coincidence that the origins of the pearls – China, India and the Persian Gulf – correspond directly with some of the strongest buying powers. The gem-quality pearl, in the brooch pictured opposite, commanded a price of £58,000, well in excess of the value of the diamond-set brooch.
Now mass-produced, numerous and sometimes of wonderful quality, this pearl paradox explains the demise of the cultured pearl. The overflow on to the market has meant that the elusive pearl necklace (pictured above), with pearls measuring 5.1mm to 8.9mm in diameter, which sold for £177,000, would be worth just £2,000 to £3,000 in its cultured counterpart form, a disparity that is not determined by aesthetics alone.
In fact, most would not be able to tell the difference with the naked eye. Some gemmologists would need 10x magnification in order to ascertain whether a pearl is cultured or natural, but, in order to sell, natural pearls need to be certificated by a laboratory. This can be an X-ray and then a gemmologist’s analysis. International buyers require this authentication to make a purchase with confidence.
Pliny the Elder wrote in Natural History (AD 77) that pearls occupied ‘the first rank... and the very highest position among all valuables’. In the contemporary digital age these words still resonate.
These timeless, finite enigmas that transcend cultures are prized due to their rare lustre, colour, shape and surface. The historic associations of pearls and their kinship with purity, refinement and virtue have ensured that they continue to be prized – the most sought-after gem.
Towards the end of the 1930s commercial pearl-diving dwindled, so it was only a matter of time before the natural pearl, a finite resource, became highly prized. Today, many of the more recently developed affluent areas in the world, where natural pearls originate, have the resources to be competitive enough in the market to buy them back.
A shroud of mystery has shadowed natural pearls throughout history. As one of the earliest adornments, their origin has always been speculated on. To the Greeks they were strikes of lightening into the sea, or frozen tears of the Ancient Roman gods. Until the 17th century it was widely believed that pearls were solidified rain or dew captured by clams. The mystery and conjecture of their origination had only served to make them more desirable. There is no doubt that they are, and were, an indication of wealth and status, to both nobility and royalty. Notably, Pierre Cartier purchased his Fifth Avenue store in 1917 for $100 and a double string of natural pearls.
The largest pearls can be traced back to their royal or noble owners. As a gesture of wealth and decadence, Cleopatra famously consumed a pearl dissolved in vinegar worth 10 million sesterces, the equivalent of 80,000 Roman pounds of gold.
Unlike any other gem, pearls are produced from living organisms and need no faceting or fashioning by human hand, arriving perfectly from their sources – saltwater pearl oysters or freshwater pearl mussels.
In today’s market, discerning buyers look for the largest, perfectly round pearl with the highest lustre and unblemished skin, preferably with a cream/pink hue.
On opening a thousand oysters you might be lucky enough to find one acceptable pearl; the bigger and better the pearl, the rarer it is to find. The Persian Gulf produces the largest and best-quality pearls, the most likely source of the pearls used for the earrings pictured opposite, once owned by the mistress of a Romanian king, which sold for £1.6m in 2012.
The likelihood of finding a single drop-shaped pearl of 34 carats (ap- proximately 7g) pales into insignificance compared with the improbability of finding two. The pair is worth far more than the sum of its parts.
The Indian Ocean produced the highest yield until overtaken by Japanese culturing in the early 20th century. However, pollution caused by the discovery of oil has diminished the supply of natural pearls and consequently they are rarer than ever. It is no coincidence that the origins of the pearls – China, India and the Persian Gulf – correspond directly with some of the strongest buying powers. The gem-quality pearl, in the brooch pictured opposite, commanded a price of £58,000, well in excess of the value of the diamond-set brooch.
Now mass-produced, numerous and sometimes of wonderful quality, this pearl paradox explains the demise of the cultured pearl. The overflow on to the market has meant that the elusive pearl necklace (pictured above), with pearls measuring 5.1mm to 8.9mm in diameter, which sold for £177,000, would be worth just £2,000 to £3,000 in its cultured counterpart form, a disparity that is not determined by aesthetics alone.
In fact, most would not be able to tell the difference with the naked eye. Some gemmologists would need 10x magnification in order to ascertain whether a pearl is cultured or natural, but, in order to sell, natural pearls need to be certificated by a laboratory. This can be an X-ray and then a gemmologist’s analysis. International buyers require this authentication to make a purchase with confidence.
Pliny the Elder wrote in Natural History (AD 77) that pearls occupied ‘the first rank... and the very highest position among all valuables’. In the contemporary digital age these words still resonate.
These timeless, finite enigmas that transcend cultures are prized due to their rare lustre, colour, shape and surface. The historic associations of pearls and their kinship with purity, refinement and virtue have ensured that they continue to be prized – the most sought-after gem.