Twinkleberry

A Love Affair with Pearls

19 Sep in Jewellery | Comments (3)

A couple of weekends ago I went off to London to attend the premier jewellery event of the year. I go every year – there is always plenty to inspire, buy and then just look and lust after.

I haven’t had time to unpack my purchases, but I did this morning. I bought things that I normally wouldn’t have – seeds, wood etc. I bought some beautiful silver. Last year I came home with exquisitely faceted semi precious stones – some of which went into the making of these earrings.

This year the bulk of my purchases went on a collection of pearls. I have always loved pearls, I find them irresistible. They don’t need to be perfect to tempt me and I doubt I will ever tire of them.  All of my pearl strands this year came from a German company and I have spent a little time this morning reading though their brochure, which gives an interesting overview of the history of the pearl – but this little snippet really tickled my fancy:

“In the early 19th Century the new American money aristocracy started to buy pearl jewellery, which had once awarded the European royal houses shine. Until the beginning of the 20th Century only the rich upper class could afford these treasures of the sea. In 1917, the French jeweller Jacques Cartier bought a six storey building on New York’s noble 5th Avenue  – and he paid for it with a two-row pearl necklace, valued at 2,5 million dollars.”

Isn’t that a wonderful story?


3 Comments »

  1. Hi, Sounds like fun to go pearl shopping in London! Wish I could have joined you. I was there once for London fashion week and always enjoy London especially viewing jewelry in the museums. That is a wonderful story, but unfortunately, it has a sort of sad ending as that strand of pearls greatly decreased in value over the years…Cartier certainly got the best end of that deal. Natural pearls are making a strong comeback, however, for which I am glad because I am focusing on natural pearls now on my comprehensive website, http://www.karipearls.com . I’m crazy about natural pearls and enjoy all pearls. I’m now following you on Twitter. Hope you follow me back. God bless and keep making your lovely jewelry. Kari

    Comment by KariPearls — September 19, 2010 @ 1:16 pm

  2. Hi Kari,

    Thanks for your visit to the site!

    Comment by jenni — September 19, 2010 @ 1:26 pm

  3. Hi,

    I too work within the pearl industry, and I also share the same belief that pearls are indeed increasing in popularity quickly.

    I look forward to reading more jewellery-related posts of yours Jenni.

    Paul

    Comment by Winterson — April 28, 2011 @ 3:15 pm

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