Pearl History

Since June celebrates pearls - I thought it would be fitting to go into some history about them using resources from the American Museum of Natural History. The following are some clips from their website here in Washington, DC.

For Ancient and North America they say that some peoples, including the ancient Sumerians, pre-Columbian Americans and Pacific islanders, placed an even higher value on the larger and more easily obtained mother-of-pearl shells.

Pearls in Antiquity (The Roman and Byzantine Empires) say that Ancient Middle Eastern cultures were apparently the first to value pearls and pearl shells. In Persia, the gems were said to be worth their weight in gold. According to some historians, one of the reasons Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 B.C. was to obtain freshwater pearls.

Mother of Pearl says that throughout history, before the 19th century, Japanese shell divers who found pearls apparently did not bother to keep them. Polynesian children are said at one time to have used pearls as marbles. These and other peoples harvested pearl oysters for their shells, using the mother-of-pearl for decoration.

Pearls in the Renneisance say that ongoing exploration of the Americas and recently established trade routes to the East made pearls available as never before in Renaissance Europe beginning in the 1500s. The upper classes adorned themselves lavishly in these gems, which became the symbol of wealth. Irregularly shaped, or baroque, pearls were especially admired. By the late 1600s, people began to favor less extravagant displays of pearls as a result of a changing religious and political climate, combined with a decline in pearls arriving from the New World.

India and the Middle East Traditions says that during the 1700s and 1800s, some of the world's finest collections of pearls, typically from the Black-lipped Pearl Oyster and Ceylon Pearl Oyster, were owned by rulers in these regions. Both Islamic and Hindu philosophies celebrate pearls: in Islamic thought, pearls represent perfection and completeness. For Hindus, the pearl is one of the planetary gems, associated with the moon and second only to the diamond in esteem.

Russia and its Pearls says that both the Russian aristocracy and the gentry owned pearl jewelry and clothing decorated with the gems. Russian noblewomen often wore large headdresses decorated with pearls, lace and colored gemstones.

Royalty and Religion says that pearls continued to be used throughout the 18th century, however, particularly among the royal families of Europe. Women of the era wore pearl parures—matched sets of necklaces, bracelets, earrings and brooches.

China says that pearls became especially popular in China during the Qing, or Manchu, dynasty. The imperial family and wealthy elite used large numbers of pearls to enhance costumes and furnishings. In theory, the emperor himself was supposed to use pearls only from freshwater mussels.

A Craze for Seed Pearls says that the growing middle-class in both Europe and the United States developed an interest in pearls, seed pearls had become the pearls of choice. Jewelers typically worked with seed pearls imported from India and China that had been strung on silk or, more commonly, white horsehair. Indeed, an 1870 newspaper article stated that such pearls were "exquisitely beautiful and constitute an appropriate and elegant present to a young bride."

A Time of Opulence says that during this period of new industrial fortunes, ostentatious wealth and ornate style, pearls found favor with American society figures and also with royalty and titled families from Britain to Russia. An all-white effect was sought in fine jewelry, achieved by masses of pearls or pearls with diamonds.

New Styles for A New Age says that irregularly shaped freshwater pearls.

Peals Are Everywhere says that with the arrival of cultured pearls on the international market in the 1930s, pearls became more available and more affordable than ever before. Although some people initially rejected cultured pearls, a handful of designers, most notably Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, embraced them, using the gems in her elegantly casual designs. By the 1950s, cultured pearls were essential accessories for well-dressed women in the United States and Europe.