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Pearl Particulars
  The pearl is the oldest gem—often referred
to as the “queen of gems”—and believed by many cultures to possess magical powers that provide or improve protection, prosperity, and healing
as well as feelings of love, peacefulness, and compassion.
Royalty throughout the ages have been great
admirers of pearls, including Cleopatra, Isabella Queen of Spain, Marie Antoinette of France, Mary Queen of Scots, Queen Elizabeth I,
and the Queen Mother.
Written in 500 B.C., the “Hymn of Protection”
in India's Atharva-Veda invokes the pearl's powers of protection—an indication of how long the pearl has been attributed with
such wide-ranging powers.
To the Greeks, pearls signified purity and loyalty to the marital
bed. The Greek god Hymen, the god of marriage, is often depicted holding a strand of pearls,
representing the marital bond between Eros (heart) and Psyche (mind).
The first “pearl craze” occurred
during the Roman Empire at the time of Julius Cesar. Their value was so high that just one pearl could fund an entire war!
During the Middle Ages, gallant knights often
wore pearls onto the battlefield for protection.
In feudal Japan, physicians treated their
noble clients with pearl ointments and tablets. Pearls were also prescribed in potions for longevity and love.
The second “pearl craze” occurred during the Renaissance. Spanish
royalty became wealthy from pearls found in the Americas by explorers.
Techniques for growing cultured pearls started
100 years ago, so natural pearls are very rare. (One in tens of thousands is natural.)
Kokichi Mikimoto is credited with inventing
the process of culturing pearls. Often referred to as the father of Japan's pearl industry, he patented the procedure
in 1903.
The third “pearl craze” occurred in the U.S.
and Paris in the 1920's. Josephine Baker and Theda Bara are two notable celebrities who helped make pearls a most
treasured fashion accessory.
Elizabeth Taylor owns one of the largest natural pearls
ever found. It was found in 1560 by a slave diving off the coast of Panama. It was passed among so much royalty, from Spain to
England, it was named La Pelegrina, which means “The Wanderer.”
 In China and many other Asian countries,
pearls are crushed and sold in powders and pills as well as in creams and ointments. The chinese treat toxicity and diseases of the
eye and ear with pearls.
In Persia, pearls were used to cure indigestion, hemorrhaging,
and malaria.
The fourth “pearl craze” is right now! For
the last ten years pearls of all varieties have been selling in record numbers.
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