Pearl Necklaces No Longer Just For Elite

Pearls have been in fashion for such a very long time, thought to represent nobility and luxury, purity and security of class. Famous painters have enjoyed depicting pearl necklaces on the throats and necks of beautiful women. The pearl as a fashion statement has always meant purity and sophistication.

An archaeologist opening a sarcophagus looking for a mummy also found a pearl necklace. The three strands contained two hundred and sixteen perfect pearls in wonderful condition. Dating back three thousand years, this shows that pearls as fashion have been a statement for a very long time. The necklace is now on display in Europe.

A famous pearl named La Peregrina was the queen of all pearl necklaces in its day. It had the largest pearl of those times and was part of the crown jewels of Spain in the early 1500s. It was given as a gift to Mary Tudor in England, but at her demise it found its way back to Spain. Eventually it made its way to America and back again.

It wasn’t until the sixties that the La Peregrina or ‘the wanderer’ or ‘the pilgrim’ found a forever-home in the vault of a famous starlet. Known for a passion for all things expensive, and for pearl necklaces, the woman accepted the big pearl as a gift from her husband. They immediately set it in a necklace of rubies and diamonds, displaying it as a centerpiece. The wandering pearl had finally found its home.

Famous painters have always been known for portraying the era in which they live in explicit detail or vague expressionist creative works. One famous painter painted scenes of a girl pouring milk, a lady receiving a letter from a servant, a girl playing a lute. Given the time of his paintings, the mid 1600s, one of his paintings natural pertained to pearl necklaces. A lovely lady in a yellow mantle stares into a mirror, enraptured with the pearl necklace she holds up for show to no one but her own reflection.

A pearl necklace can contain both cultured and natural pearls. Cultured pearls have had some help from people in order to grow, while natural pearls are found naturally in pearl growing oysters. Pearls are either from saltwater or freshwater mollusks, either clams, oysters or even snails. Saltwater pearls are the type more likely to be cultivated by man and are known for being rounder and smoother than the often irregular shaped freshwater pearls.

The colour of pearls in a pearl necklace can vary. Though a necklace made of identical pearls is highly prized for its rarity, pearls come in many colours, sizes, shapes and luster. Some pearls are so small they are called seed pearls. Others are rice shaped or potato shaped. Akoya and Kasumi pearls are the most prized, products of careful cultivation and growing in Japan. Not all pearls are lustrous, as not all pearls are ‘nacreous’. Though non-nacreous pearls are still pearls, chemically, their chemical makeup is differently arranged enough to not reflect light the way nacreous pearls do.

As old as pearls are, they are so adaptable to current trends. They look as good in old antique settings as they do in contemporary ones. Whether looped with a ribbon or twined with copper, set with almost clear line so they look like a dream across the skin, they look elegant. Paired with the best of designer dresses or worn as an accent for jeans, pearl necklaces are gorgeous and make a woman feel like a queen.

Pearl necklaces have been used in fashion for at least a couple of thousand years. A three strand pearl necklace was discovered in the bronzed sarcophagus of a mummy, and contained two hundred and sixteen perfectly conserved pearls.