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A Brief History of Pearls
POSTED: Wed, 04 Mar 2009 - 08:59am
FILED UNDER: Jewellery
Pearls have been synonymous with rarity and beauty from ancient times. As far back as 2000 BC, they were detailed in China as gifts to and from Royalty. When the first explorers reached the Americas, pearls were used by the native in their jewellery and as a traded commodity. The Romans placed such a high value on them they passed legislation to try to ensure only the very highest echelons were allowed to wear them. It seems that everywhere where pearls have been discovered, they have been sought after as objects of great worth and beauty.
Why is it that pearls are so highly prized? Like many precious objects, rarity plays a significant part. While pearls grow in nature, they must be retrieved by divers, and even if the diver overcame the massive dangers presented by the water, not every mollusc contains a pearl. Even where it does, there is no guarantee that the pearl would be smooth or round. A flawed surface or uneven shape renders a pearl difficult to use in jewellery design. Given the effort to retrieve pearls of sufficient size and quality it is little wonder that they became the province of the wealthy.
Of course, the natural quality of pearls – their inherent beauty and lustre - contributes to their popularity. Nothing in nature has quite the colour and shine of a pearl and from ancient times till today they have remained as coveted as ever.
But why are pearls so relatively affordable today? Natural pearls are actually still very rare and expensive. Pollution and overfishing have wiped out many mollusc populations, and places where pearls used to be found are now barren. In most modern jewellery, the pearls that are used come from cultivated molluscs. While not quite purely man-made, these come from specically bred molluscs, with the process of pearl formation triggered by human intervention. This makes the supply of pearls predictable and steady, with pearls of a uniform colour and size, making it much easier to match them for jewellery.
Even in the cultured pearl market, there are still large variations in quality. While those with very thick layers of nacre (the shiny surface) are of a better quality, some jewellers use pearls with much thinner nacre. We source our pearls from the finest cultivators to ensure that their beauty and lustre goes with you wherever you carry them.
