The History Of Pearls
Bill B. Carmel
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 thisday.
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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