Ten Terrific Fun Facts about Pearls

1. FOUND ONLY IN 1992, THE OLDEST PEARL IN THE WORLD IS ESTIMATED TO BE 8,000 YEARS OLD. DUBBED THE “ABU DHABI PEARL,” IT WAS FOUND ON AN ISLAND OFF THE COAST OF ABU DHABI IN THE UAE. THE PALE PINK GEM DATES BACK TO 5700 BCE. THIS INCREDIBLE DISCOVERY FURTHER INDICATES THE HISTORIC USE OF PEARLS IN BOTH TRADE AND JEWELRY. 2. THE BIGGEST PEARL EVER FOUND IS 26” LONG AND WEIGHS 75 POUNDS. THE UNNAMED GEM WAS FOUND ONLY A DECADE AGO BY A FISHERMAN IN THE PHILIPPINES. IT IS VALUED AT $100 MILLION. 3. THE MOST FAMOUS PEARL IN THE WORLD IS LA PEREGRINA PEARL. FROM THE CROWN JEWELS OF SPAIN TO THE CHEW TOY OF ELIZABETH TAYLOR’S PEKINGESE, THIS INCREDIBLE PEARL HAS HAD QUITE THE JOURNEY. LA PEREGRINA IS CONSIDERED TO BE ONE OF THE MOST PERFECT PEARLS EVER FORMED, WITH IMPRESSIVE WEIGHT AND A BEAUTIFULLY SYMMETRICAL PEAR SHAPE. 4. FOR MUCH OF THE HISTORY OF DIVING FOR PEARLS, IT PROVED TO BE AN INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS OCCUPATION. IT’S ESTIMATED TO HAVE A MORTALITY RATE OF 50%, MAKING IT ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS JOBS AROUND. THANKFULLY TODAY, STRICT REGULATIONS ARE IN PLACE TO PROTECT DIVERS AND PEARL FARMS HAVE REDUCED THE ON-THE-JOB MORTALITIES DRASTICALLY. 5. PEARLS FORM IN A VARIETY OF ORGANISMS, INCLUDING OYSTERS, CLAMS, AND MOLLUSKS. THE PROCESS BEGINS WHEN A SMALL IRRITANT, LIKE A GRAIN OF SAND, BECOMES TRAPPED IN THE SHELL. THE OYSTER WILL PRODUCE A SMOOTH, CRYSTALLINE SUBSTANCE TO COAT THE IRRITABLE FOREIGN OBJECT. THIS IS CALLED NACRE AND WILL BE LAYERED OVER AND OVER AGAIN 6. IN 1893, KOKICHI MIKIMOTO TURNED THE INDUSTRY ON ITS HEAD WHEN HE INDUCED THE FORMATION OF A PEARL BY MANUALLY INSERTING AN IRRITANT INTO AN OYSTER. BY THE EARLY 1900S, CULTURED PEARLS BECAME WIDESPREAD. BY 1935, JAPAN ALONE HAD 350 PEARL FARMS THAT PRODUCED 10 MILLION PEARLS ANNUALLY. TODAY, VIRTUALLY ALL PEARLS ARE CULTURED PEARLS DUE TO THE OVER COLLECTION OF NATURAL PEARLS. 7. DESPITE THEIR BEAUTY AND POPULARITY THROUGHOUT TIME, PEARLS HAVE ALSO ACQUIRED SOME NEGATIVE CONNOTATIONS OVER THE YEARS. SOME BELIEVE THAT PEARLS CAME FROM THE TEARS OF ADAM AND EVE AFTER THEIR BANISHMENT FROM EDEN. BECAUSE OF THIS, BRIDES ARE OFTEN CAUTIONED AGAINST ADORNING PEARLS ON THEIR WEDDING DAYS TO AVOID TEARS AND SORROW IN THEIR NEW MARRIAGE. 8. IN 1912, PIERRE CARTIER BARTERED A DOUBLE-STRANDED PEARL NECKLACE VALUED AT $1 MILLION DOLLARS TO BUY A MANSION ON 5TH AVENUE MADISON, WHICH WOULD LATER BECOME THE FAMOUS FLAGSHIP CARTIER STORE. 9. ONLY A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF HARVESTED PEARLS ARE CONSIDERED GEM QUALITY. THE MAJORITY OF PEARLS EVENTUALLY END UP BEING USED FOR DIFFERENT PURPOSES. THE GEM HAS BEEN USED IN TRADITIONAL MEDICINE IN ASIA FOR CENTURIES. IN THE MODERN-DAY, IT’S STILL COMMONLY USED BOTH MEDICINALLY AND IN THE MAKING OF BEAUTY PRODUCTS. 10. THE DRAGON’S PEARL IS ONE OF THE OLDEST AND WELL-KNOWN PIECES OF CHINESE FOLKLORE. ACCORDING TO THIS TALE, A YOUNG PEASANT BOY DISCOVERS A BURIED PEARL THAT HAS THE POWER TO MULTIPLY ANYTHING IT IS IN CONTACT WITH. EVENTUALLY, GREEDY PEOPLE COME TO STEAL THIS POWER AND THE BOY SWALLOWS THE PEARL. AFTER THIS, HE TRANSFORMS INTO A LARGE DRAGON AND BECOMES THE PROTECTOR OF THE LAND.