Five Legendary Pearls
- gem_head
- Jun 8, 2020
- 6 min read
In commemoration of the June birthstone, I decided to highlight five legendary natural pearls - my favorite five of course!
Natural pearls today account for less than 0.1%of all pearls traded in our markets making them incredibly rare. As such, if a natural pearl presents traceable provenance and an important backstory it is regarded an invaluable treasure.
The process of pearl formation is fascinating - it begins when a microscopic irritant enter into a mollusk (oysters, clams, mussels, sea snails etc.) and disturb the creatures mantle tissue. The mollusk secretes layer upon layer of what is known as ‘nacre’ to cover the area where the irritant disturbed - like dressing a wound. Nacre is essentially a coating of mother-of-pearl. This secretion of nacreous layers over a period of time is what eventually turns into a pearl. A pearl won’t occur in every mollusk, experts say the chances of finding a pearl in an oyster is about 1 in 10,000.
Pearls formed in nature, unlike cultured pearls are not necessarily always round, it is quite rare to find a perfect round pearl in nature. On average it takes at least one year for a pearl to grow up to about 5mm in diameter, if undisturbed, pearls could go on growing inside of a mollusk for many years growing in to massive proportions. One of the largest natural pearls found to date weighs approx. 34kg - that is the average weight of an eleven year old child.
See short video (1 min) below for a graphical representation of the pearl formation process.
Hope Pearl
The Hope Pearl, like the Hope Diamond, gains its name from its one time owner - the renowned London based Banker and Gem collector Henry Philip Hope.
While the Hope Pearl’s origins are not exactly known, it is believed the pearl originated in the East, possibly from the Bay of Mannar (Indian Ocean between India and Sri Lanka) or the Persian Gulf (Bahrain), and carried to the West by the 17th century French traveler and gem merchant Jean Baptiste Tavernier.
Tavenier had many wealthy Parisian clients, however his most valuable gems such as the Hope Pearl was purchased by none other than the Sun King - Louise XIV. In fact, the Hope Diamond was also imported to France by Tavenier and sold to Louise XIV.
What’s so remarkable about the Hope Pearl is its size and beauty - weighing 450 carats (approx 90g), it is regarded one of the largest salt water Pearls found. The Hope Pearl is baroque (meaning irregular in shape) - and displays beautiful iridescent rainbow colors on its body.
The Pearl is mounted on a crown shaped pendent made of gold and enamel set with diamonds, emeralds, sapphires and rubies.The Hope Pearl is privately owned at present, however resurfaces every now and at exhibitions.
Mancini Pearls
Mancini Pearls are a pair of gorgeous large drop shaped pearls set with diamonds, supposedly a gift from Louis XIV to Marie de Mancini - Princess of Colonna.
It seems Marie Mancini and Louis XIV were very much in love, and wanted to be married, however due to Royal obligations and objections from his mother, Louis broke off his affair with Mancini, it is during this breakup that Louis XIV is supposed to have gifted these earrings as a symbol of his eternal love for her. This is of course one of the many versions of the story. Louis XIV ended up marrying Maria Theresa of Spain for political reasons.
Marie married the Italian Prince Colonna, and took an important collection of jewelry and gems with her to Italy. The pearls are said to have passed down through Marie’s descendants following her passing in 1715; and resurfaced in 1979 at a Christie’s auction held in New York, where they were sold for $253,000.
The Mancini Pearl earrings are two, nearly identical, drop-shape pearls weighing 50 carats,(10g) each. One pearl of the pair is a perfect drop-shape, listed among the most perfect drop-shape pearls known, the other is slightly distorted. They are set in white gold with colorless round and pear shape diamonds.
Baroda Pearls
The press release of March 22, 2007 by Christie’s Auction House read “Christie’s announces that the Baroda Pearls, the most important natural pearl necklace to ever be seen at auction, will lead the April 25 Magnificent Jewels sale in New York”.
The original Baroda Pearl necklace composed of seven strands of perfectly matched and graduated natural pearls belonged to Khande Rao Gawkwar - the Maharaja of Baroda, India. Maharaja Gawkwar along with this magnificent pearl necklace possessed an unparalleled collection of state jewels including the famous 129 carat “Star of the South” diamond, and the 78.53 carat “English Dresden,” diamond.
The two strand Baroda pearl necklace sold at Christie’s auction in 2007 was restrung by Maison Cartier (unsure when exactly), and featured sixty-eight of the largest and most perfect pearls from the original seven-strand necklace, and cushion-cut diamond clasp designed and fabricated by Cartier.
Baroda Pearl Necklace sold for a whopping $7,096,000.00 in 2007, and is the world’s third most expensive piece of pearl jewelry ever sold to date.
Maharaja Gawkwar with the original seven strand necklace (L), The two strand Cartier string necklace (R) (Copyright owner of Images unknown)
Queen Marie Antoinette's Pearl
Marie Antoinette, the last Queen of France is known the world over as a symbol of extravagance and luxury. She and her Husband Louis XVI thrived in the most lavish royal life imaginable, she collected and consumed only the finest and the most opulent of things. And of course, she loved her jewels - it is famously known that it was a scandal over a Diamond necklace that ultimately cost Marie Antoinette her head.
Before her death during the French revolution, Marie Antoinette was able to smuggle a few of her treasured jewels out of France. These jewels were later claimed by Marie-Therese, the only surviving daughter of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, and remained with European Royals, until November of 2018, when the Bourbon Parma family put Marie Antoinette’s jewels up for auction at Sotheby’s in Geneva.
It was no doubt a record shattering auction - but the star of the show that night was Queen Marie Antoinette’s pendant with a large natural pearl in the shape of a tear drop set with an oval diamond supporting a diamond bow motif measuring approximately 15.90 x 18.35 x 25.85mm.
This pearl pendent sold for a record $36million - the highest price ever paid for a pearl jewel in history, surpassing the previous record holder, Elizabeth Taylor’s 50.6-carat La Peregrina, which sold at Christie’s in 2011 for $11.8 million.
Maisie Plant Pearls
Of all the famous Pearls, my favorite will remain the story surrounding the Pearls of Mrs. Maisie Plant.
Mrs. Plant was the wife of American Business mogul Morton Plant. In 1917, Ms. Plant saw a pearl necklace and fell in love with them - and Mr. Plant of course, was ready to do whatever it took to buy these pearls for his loving wife.
The necklace was a double strand of graduated natural round South Sea pearls. The top tier consisted of 55 pearls and the bottom tier 73 pearls. The necklace was made by none other than the renowned French jeweler - Cartier.
This was before cultured pearls made its entrance to the market - pearls were extremely valuable. The double strand of 128 pearls was obviously of exceptional quality and had taken the Cartier’s many years to assemble, they valued the necklace at $1million in 1917.
Morton Plant determined to acquire the pearls negotiated with the Cartier’s for many weeks, until they settled on a barter agreement. Plant offered to trade his mansion (valued at $925,000 in 1917) at New York’s Millionaire’s Row on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 52nd Avenue for the double strand pearl necklace.
The Cartier Mansion on Fifth Avenue still stands strong, and is regarded one of the most iconic buildings in New York City.
Mrs. Plant’s Pearls along with her estate was auctioned in 1957 - the original double strand had been restrung as two separate necklaces. Together the necklaces achieved only $165,000 in the auction, a devastating drop in value from its original sale value of $1million in 1917. Reason being the proliferation of cultured pearls post 1920s, devaluing the entire Pearl market. It is not known who purchased the Plant pearls in 1957, and the necklaces have not resurfaced since. If the Plant pearls make their way to an auction house today, there’s absolutely no doubt they’d smash auction records.
References:
Christie’s. (2007, March 22). CHRISTIE’S TO OFFER THE MOST IMPORTANT PEARL NECKLACE EVER SEEN AT AUCTION. Retrieved June 3, 2020, from https://www.christies.com/presscenter/pdf/04112007/105315.pdf
Christie’s. (2016, November 4). Mancini Pearls [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://www.christies.com/features/Jewellery-worn-by-royalty-7847-1.aspx
Marino, K. (2017, June 6). The Pearls that Built Cartier. Retrieved June 4, 2020, from http://www.thepracticalgemologist.com/jewelry-history-1/2017/6/2/the-pearls-that-built-cartier
[Photograph]. (n.d.). Mrs. Plant wearing her Pearls. Retrieved from https://doyle.com/specialists/nan-summerfield/stories/mrs-plants-pearls
[Photograph]. (2019, March 7). Baroda Pearls. Retrieved from https://www.aurusjewels.com/blogs/news/pearls-are-always-appropriate
[Photograph]. (2019, March 7). Maharajah Khande Rao Gaekwad of Baroda. Retrieved from https://www.aurusjewels.com/blogs/news/pearls-are-always-appropriate
Royal jewels sold by Christie’s. (2016, November 4). Retrieved June 3, 2020, from https://www.christies.com/features/Jewellery-worn-by-royalty-7847-1.aspx'
Sotheby’s. (2018a, November 15). Queen Marie Antoinette’s Pearl [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/marie-antoinettes-pearls-break-auction-records-in-geneva
Sotheby’s. (2018, November 15). Marie Antoinette’s Pearls Break Auction Records in Geneva. Retrieved June 3, 2020, from https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/marie-antoinettes-pearls-break-auction-records-in-geneva
Steussy, L. (2018, December 23). Another pearl found inside restaurant oyster. Retrieved June 8, 2020, from https://nypost.com/2018/12/22/another-pearl-found-inside-restaurant-oyster/#:%7E:text=Experts%20say%20the%20chances%20of,is%20about%201%20in%2010%2C000.
Summerfield, N. (n.d.). Mrs. Plant’s Pearls | Doyle Auction House. Retrieved June 4, 2020, from https://doyle.com/specialists/nan-summerfield/stories/mrs-plants-pearls
The Hope Pearl - Famous Pearl Jewels. (2019, March 28). Retrieved June 2, 2020, from https://www.winterson.co.uk/blog/2019/03/famous-pearl-jewels-hope-pearl
The Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History. (2019, March 28). Hope Pearl [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://www.winterson.co.uk/blog/2019/03/famous-pearl-jewels-hope-pearl/
[Video file]. (2016, April 12). Formation of a Natural Pearl. In YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=934totJgo_U&feature=youtu.be
Comments