History Of Pearls
Since ancient times, the pearl has been known as a symbol of
unblemished perfection. It is the oldest know gem, and for
centuries was considered the most valuable. Unlike diamonds, and
other precious gemstones that have to be cut and polished, a
pearl needs nothing done to it to be admired and valued.
Pearls are known to be around before recorded history. A
fragment of the oldest known jewelry with a pearl, found in the
sarcophagus of a Persian princess who died in 520 BC, is
displayed in the Louvre in Paris.
No one will ever know who were the first to collect and adorn
themselves with pearls, but gemologist, George Frederick Kunz in
his 1908 book, The Book of Pearls, believes that an ancient
fish-eating tribe along the coast of India probably discovered
them as they were opening oysters for food.
Since then pearls have surfaced in every civilization as an
adornment and a sign of wealth.
In ancient Rome, only persons above a certain rank were allowed
to wear jewelry, and most European countries in the thirteenth
and fourteenth centuries had laws regarding who could not wear
pearls-of these groups were teachers and lawyers.
The word "pearl" appeared in the English language in the
fourteenth century. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries,
pearls were fashionable in Europe as personal ornaments, with
both men's and women's clothing embroidered with them.
Pearls were once considered an exclusive privilege for royalty.
In 1612 the Duke of Saxony drew up a law that prohibited the
wearing of pearls by nobility, professors, doctors or their
wives.
In the Americas, both the Incas and Aztecs prized pearls for
their beauty and magical powers. Spanish explorers of the New
World found the natives in possession of rich pearl fisheries.
For many years, the New World was best known in major European
cities as the land where pearls came from.
Native Americans of the Atlantic Coastal areas and the
Mississippi River Basin were the first to use US freshwater
mussel pearls and shells. Men and women wore pearl pendants and
ear pendants and both pearls and shells were used for decorative
purposes on articles of clothing. Reportedly, Powhattan
(Pocahontas' father) had large stores of pearls he received as
tributes.
Pearl Culturing in the 20th Century
Because pearls were difficult to produce and obtain, even though
they were harvested in many countries of the world, they were an
expensive possession until the early 1900's when a biologist and
a carpenter discovered a method to produce pearls on demand. At
the same time Kokichi Mikimoto, the son of a noodle maker, had
set out to accomplish the same thing. The heart of pearl
culturing leads back to these 3 men, with Mikimoto receiving the
primary credit for launching the success of culturing pearls as
we know it today. Since this time, Mikimoto and hundreds of
other firms, primarily in Japan and China have made pearls
available and affordable to everyone.
Although some people initially rejected cultured pearls, a
handful of designers, most notably Gabrielle "Coco" Channel,
embraced them, using them in her elegantly casual designs. By
the 1950s, cultured pearls were essential accessories for every
well-dressed woman in the United States and Europe.
Perhaps the most famous pearl still in existence is the Hope
Pearl, acquired in the 19th Century by Henry Philip Hope. It is
on display at the British Museum of Natural History and is 2"
long, and varies between 3 1/4 and 4 1/2" in circumference.
|
