Pearl in The Past

Pearl in The Past

• The year was 41 B.C. Mark Anthony, a member of the Roman Triumvirate, was eyeing Egypt to finance his plans of conquest. In one of the most celebrated banquets documented in literature, Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt, convinces him that Egypt posesses a heritage and wealth that put it above subjugation.

 

• Cleopatra promises Anthony the most expensive dinner in history – failing which, he can conquer Egypt. She crushes a large pearl from a pair of earrings, mixes them in wine and drinks it. A stunned Anthony is offered the same – he refuses, acceding defeat!

 

• Pliny the Elder writes in his famous Natural History that the two pearls were worth an estimated 60 million sesterces, or 1,875,000 ounces of fine silver (with silver at $5 an ounce that would be $9,375,000).

 

• Pearls were much sought after in various cultures throughout the ages. Historically, the most important source for fine natural pearls is the Persian Gulf, where pearl oysters were once found in great abundance off the coast and islands of present day Bahrain. The creamy white pearls from these oysters are still considered the finest natural pearls in the world and command premium prices.

 

• History shows little change in the natural pearl trade for more than 2,000 years. Arab fleets with 35,000 or more divers, often financed by Indian traders, worked the Persian Gulf's oyster beds. Free-diving to 60 feet, they would hold their breath for one to two minutes while grappling for a few oysters. The pearls from the Persian Gulf were ready-to-use gemstones for our ancestors; even today, pearls need no polishing or faceting. The great Pearl age in sixteenth and seventeenth century Europe was fuelled by pearls from the Americas. This ‘age’ saw a dramatic increase in the artistic, decorative and religious expression, with the aid of pearls.

 

• By the 17^th and 18^th centuries, the huge demand for pearls left behind ravaged oyster and mollusk populations. It was only in the 1920s that Perliculture, or the process of planting a core into pearl oysters developed and boosted access to pearls.