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History
of Pearls
Pearls
have a rich and vibrant history, dating
back to ancient times when heroic divers
would brave the ocean's depths to bring
to the water's surface these treasures of
the deep. The pearl itself is known far
and wide as the "Queen of Gems," so it is
no surprise that these glowing orbs have
cemented their favor with queens, kings,
and royal families since the dawn of time.
A look back at ancient artwork, mosaics,
and even sculptures show pearls adorning
necklaces, crowns, collars, earrings, and
robes.
India is believed to be the home of the
initial discovery of the pearl. A tribe
of fish eating peoples are believed to have
stumbled across the oyster and found an
oyster inside with the meat. This tribe
praised the beauty and luster of the pearl
and soon began harvesting the gems.
Pearls made their mark on the land of China
as well, with lesser kings gifting pearl
necklaces to kings with more power as a
token of good will. Often, these pearls
were of the fresh water variety and looked
at with disdain due to the irregularity
of the shape.
The ancient Romans and Egyptians prized
pearls over the other gemstones, perhaps
due to its eerie similarity to the moon.
One favorite story about pearls involves
the legendary Egyptian queen Cleopatra and
her Roman lover Marc Antony. In order to
convince Antony of her country's wealth
and power over the Roman Empire, Cleopatra
bet the erstwhile Roman she could provide
the most costly banquet in history. Before
a goblet of wine, she dissolved a large
pearl from a pair of earrings and drank
the remnants. Antony declined the matching
pearl, proving her point and entering the
infamous queen yet again into common folklore.
Pearls
play a large part in the major religions
of the world. Arabian royalty loved pearls
to the point they used the orbs to decorate
the Koran, their religious text. In addition
to decorating the outside of the books,
the Koran is filled with passages including
pearls in the text. Similarly, Christians
included parables and text about pearls
in their religious text, the Bible. In Hinduism,
the god Krishna is credited with discovering
pearls and presented the sea born beauty
to his daughter on the day of her wedding.
As time progressed, pearl harvesting became
a lucrative business and fueled exploration
all over the world. After the "discovery"
of pearl-laden shellfish in the New World,
wealth seekers from all over the world flocked
to the newfound land for its riches. Still,
both fresh water pearls and salt water pearls
were symbols of riches that only the wealthiest
of individuals could afford. It was not
until the early 1900s that pearls became
a possibility for all classes.
In 1907, the son of a Japanese noodle maker
developed a system for creating perfectly
round pearls in a controlled environment.
Kokichi Mikimoto and his wife Ume created
a pearl empire that still sets of the bar
for quality pearls to this day. The Mikimoto
company still produces astoundingly beautiful
pearls today using the practices set in
place by Kokichi and Ume.
While
Mikimoto was working to culture high quality
pearls, two more Japanese minds were also
striving to have similar successes. Tokichi
Nishikawa and Tatsuhei Mise were working
independently, but found similar results
and success in grafting irritants into the
oyster's tissue to spur the production of
a pearl. After discovering they were working
independently toward the same goal, the
men joined forces to create the Mise-Nishikawa
method. Mikimoto soon purchased the rights
to this method and coupled the men's creations
and techniques with his own.
About
the Author
Bill Carmel specliazes in pearls for more
information go to http://www.u-pearl-earings.com
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