Once pearls were considered far more valuable than diamonds, since only 1 in 10,000 oysters may contain a round natural pearl. In Roman times, pearls were so sought after and expensive that Julius Caesar barred women below a certain rank from wearing them. It wasn't until Kokichi Mikimoto, founder of Mikimoto pearls, successfully cultured pearls in the early 1900s that they could be easily matched and made into necklaces (before that, it could take up to 10 years to find enough matching pearls to make a strand). It was Coco Chanel who exploited the discovery of cultured pearls and probably did...
Pearl Wisdom
These days pearls can be bought virtually anywherefrom the Internet to televisionbut craftsmanship and quality are difficult to spot sight unseen
Subscriber content preview.
or
Log-In
To continue reading:
or
Log-In