|
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.
|
