Queen Elizabeth II had a love for three-strand pearls because her grandfather gave her a three strand when she was just 9 years-old.
Pearls have been coveted as symbols of wealth and status for thousands of years. The oldest written mention of natural pearls is in 2206 BC, recorded by a Chinese historian. The spherical shape of some pearls led many cultures to associate this gem with the moon. In ancient China, pearls were believed to guarantee protection from fire and fire-breathing dragons. In Europe, they symbolized modesty, chastity, and purity. During Christopher Columbus’s voyages to the New World, he repeatedly encountered native people adorned with natural pearls.
Pearls have been symbols of wealth, purity, and fertility. The June birthstone, some cultures associate pearls with the moon, calling them “teardrops of the moon.” Hindu folklore explains that dewdrops fell from the moon into the sea, and Krishna picked one for his daughter on her wedding day. Some ancient legends described pearls as tears cried by gods. Some cultures—pun intended—claim that Eve cried pearls when she was exiled from Eden. Ancient Japanese folktales told that pearls were created from the tears of mythical creatures like mermaids and nymphs. Early Chinese civilizations believed that dragons carried pearls between their teeth and the dragon had to be slain to claim the pearls, which symbolized wisdom. Hence the phrase “pearls of wisdom.”
Diana, Princess of Wales wore the necklace below only once in public, at a performance of Swan Lake at the Royal Albert Hall in London, on June 3rd, 1997, her last official engagement. It was on her visit to the ballet that Diana met Harrods owner Mohamed Fayed and was invited to join his family for a holiday in the South of France. This led to her meeting his son Dodi, then tragically to their deaths later that summer. After the ballet, she returned the piece to Crown Jeweler, Garrard, in order for the earrings to be completed, but of course she died before the commission could be completed.
A natural pearl is formed when an irritant, such as a parasite or piece of shell, becomes accidentally lodged in an oyster’s soft inner body, causing it to secrete a crystalline substance called nacre as a defense mechanism, which builds up around the irritant in layers until a pearl is formed. A cultured pearl is formed in the same process as a natural pearl, but it begins by human intervention: A shell bead nucleus is inserted inside the oyster and irritates the oyster to produce the layers of nacre. It may take over 100,000 oysters to get enough pearls to make a pearl necklace, and matching natural pearls to make a pearl strand is extremely difficult since they are never found round or uniform in size and color.
Marie Antoinette’s Diamond & Pearl Pendant.
In 1791, a box was smuggled from Versailles to the French countryside. The box made its way to Brussels, then to Vienna. Inside was a selection of the most valuable of Marie Antoinette’s lavish jewelry collection. The pearl itself, suspended from one large diamond and a diamond encrusted ribbon, sold for a whopping $36 million in 2013 alongside other pieces that had not been worn in public for over 200 years.
https://www.hattonjewels.com/the-origin-of-pearls/
https://www.gia.edu/pearl-history-lore
https://www.americangemsociety.org/the-folklore-of-pearls/
