One of the things I enjoy the most about jewelry, is that each piece weaves a tapestry of a story. Narrative details like stone settings and repairs are snapshots in time. Whispering about the technology favored, stones that were marketable, or even the skills that were available in different time periods.
Jewelry is intimate for most people, and more often than not, this sentimental item will outlive its owner to be passed on to next of kin or to be discovered by someone completely new. That's why I always love coming across tales like this one.
A fisherman sleeps restfully with a massive world record tucked soundly beneath his bed for 10 years. A treasure estimated to be worth $100 million and could feasibly be the largest natural pearl ever found, weighing 75lbs.
To be honest, the mystique of pearls has tarnished a bit for me. Then I hear stories like this one and it ignites the enigma of the pearl for me again.
Mikimoto introduced cultured pearls to the world by 1920, thus taking the element of natural wonder out of the recipe. No longer was it a daunting task to uniquely find a perfectly round pearl, the arduous adventure of doing that enough times to form a strand, and the even more tedious task of matching color/luster into a strand.
Pearl necklaces were rare feats of discipline and luck plucked by human hands to be admired and adorned. Mikimoto cracked this code and made it accessible for everyone, on repeat, devaluing the market. It's far more cost effective to cultivate than to hunt for a naturally occurring pearl.
As a budding gemologist and a jaded pearl gluer, I have lost that sparkle in my eye for pearls, but the rest of the world definitely has not. Pearls emote feelings of motherhood and femininity. Motherly in the sense that the pearl is carried by a mollusk, shaping, forming, and giving birth; an allegory for the miracle of creation. Mikimoto did make pearls accessible for everyone, and in a way, that is really beautiful. These precious gems are no longer reserved for the elite, but are now staples for first communions, weddings, and other special milestones.
It makes one ponder, how many more world wonders are successfully hidden? Kept out of the public eye due to either blissful ignorance that it could be valuable or the personal belief that it's a talisman of sorts, bringing good fortune and prosperity.
