Captivated by pearls? You’re certainly in good company. A favorite of legendary women including Cleopatra and Queen Elizabeth, these beautiful spheres are the only precious gems made from a living creature – the mollusk. (more…)
Captivated by pearls? You’re certainly in good company. A favorite of legendary women including Cleopatra and Queen Elizabeth, these beautiful spheres are the only precious gems made from a living creature – the mollusk. (more…)
In the past century, pearls have gone from some of the most expensive and rarest objects to jewelry that many of us can afford.
How this happened and what the future holds is a fascinating story. In part one of our series on cultured pearls we discussed how three Japanese men created techniques to produce the first akoya cultured pearls, which gave birth to the modern cultured pearl industry. Today, we dive into South Sea cultured pearls, Tahitian cultured pearls, and the rise of China as a leading cultured pearl producer.
Ready to set sail and learn about these treasures? (more…)
Before the development of cultured pearls, only natural pearls were available – and their value was astronomical.
“I’m going to have the most expensive dinner in history,” Cleopatra supposedly boasted to Marc Anthony. She then dissolved a large natural pearl in a goblet of wine and drank it. Then there was the Roman general, Vitellius (15 A.D.-69 A.D.), who sold a natural pearl from one of his mother’s earrings to cover the expenses of a military campaign. (more…)
A strand of pearls is one of the most glamorous pieces of jewelry a woman can wear, yet these lustrous beauties have humble origins.
Pearls are produced by mollusks – soft-bodied saltwater or freshwater animals possessing one (univalve) or two (bivalve) shells. Mollusks are invertebrates meaning they lack a spine or vertebrae. Scientists estimate there are over 100,000 different species of mollusks in the world’s waters. However, only a few dozen of these species produce pearls and only about half of them are used to produce cultured pearls. (more…)
Perhaps the most popular gem of all time, June’s birthstone–the pearl–is as versatile as they come. Considered by many to be a staple of every woman’s wardrobe, the pearl is quite likely the earliest gem used for adornment. Our early ancestors foraged seashores and riverbeds collecting mother of pearl shells for ceremony and exchange – and when the rare pearl was found, it became a sacred possession. (more…)
The June birthstone, the pearl, has a long and rich history. For many young women, pearls are just something you wear when you wanted to look classy and put together. But the unique creation of the pearl, the only gem made from a living creature, tells us that this is an incredibly special little sphere. (more…)
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