As we mentioned earlier, some of the most ancient records relating to the Earl Darr found in India. Long after the Romans were enjoying pearls, the Pearl was held in high esteem in India. Pearls are mentioned often in ancient Hindu writings, in this sacred texts known as the Vedas. These provide some of the earliest mentions of girls associated with longevity, prosperity and preservation of life. Here the word krisana appears — almost 3000 years ago — translated as “Pearl.” Here we also find the story of Krishna, the preserver (notice the similarity to the word krisana). And here, also, we find perhaps the oldest written mention of pearls in association with weddings. We are told how Krishna brought for pearls from the depths of the sea to give to his daughter on her wedding day. And what a better illustration of the pearls great value. The Hindu story is perhaps the earliest mention of pearls and marriage… and the start of a centuries old tradition of pearls as the appropriate adornment of the bride!
The ancient Greeks also thought that pearls should be a part of the wedding experience, believing that they would help ensure marital bliss and prevent newlywed brides from crying; pearls were considered “the wedding gem”. During the period of the Crusades, we find that pearls were the gift of many a gallant knight returning from the Middle East, bestowed upon his “Fair Lady” for her wedding day. By the 14th and 15th centuries, pearls and love were inseparable, and some believed that they would bring love; pearls were at the height of “wedding fashion” with royal weddings in the House of Burgundy taking place in a veritable “sea of pearls.” Distort all accounts document that virtually everyone from the bride herself to her male guests were adorned in glistening pearls.
From Queen Elizabeth I to our modern Queen Elizabeth II, the tradition has continued through the centuries. At the beginning of the 20th century, pearls were as much a nuptial gem in the in the United States as diamonds are today; pearls accounted for over 75% of jewelry sales in the US at the turn of the century. Today, the tradition of bestowing pearls upon the bride for a wedding day, often by the father of the bride, or by the groom himself, continues as it has for hundreds of years. And what better symbol for the bridal couple: the Pearl, like love, takes time to grow, and it must survive unforeseen difficulties and challenges if it is to become something rare and beautiful.
black pearls
Pearls are also closely associated with the Virgin Mary in Jesus. Early Christian writings refer to Jesus as “the great Pearl” brought forth by Mary. As the most valuable of all things known at that time, a more highly revered, more highly valued image could not have been found.
By the sixth century, the allure of the Pearl is undiminished. According to Islamic mystics, Pearl was the first creation of God, and for Muslims the Pearl is a special gift to the world from God. For this reason, Muslims hold a natural black pearls in very high regard and often avoid cultured pearls altogether.
We find the great prophet Mohammed commenting on the pearls beauty and value in the wonderful imagery to used in the Koran, the sacred book of Islam. For Mohamed’s followers, it would not have been possible to imagine greater rewards than those he describes to followers of Islam when describing Paradise: “the stones are pearls jacinths; the fruits of the trees are pearls and emeralds; and each person admitted to the delights of the celestial Kingdom is provided with a tent of black pearls, jacinths, and emeralds; is crowned with pearls of incomparable luster, and is attended by beautiful maidens resembling hidden pearls.” Today, Muslims around the world continue to value black pearls highly, and find pearls ranked among their most cherished possessions.
In addition to the bride, other references from a Hindu Vedas evoke exquisite images with pearls. In the earliest Jewish writings Pearl a pure as often as a metaphor for those things which were most highly valued. In the ancient biblical text of Job, for example, we find that in describing the value of wisdom, it is emphasized by placing it above all other things of value, including the Pearl.
We also find in the Jewish literature the wonderful rabbinic next story of Abraham and his wife Sarah entering the land of Egypt. Sheer Abraham, when confronted by customs collectors, is willing to part with all of his valuable possessions — even pearls — to protect Sarah, whose love he places at an even higher value. The value of pearls, we see in this story, is second only to love, the most valuable of all things.
By the beginning of the first century, we begin to see references to pearls in Christian writings. Starting in the New Testament, with a book of Matthew, the kingdom of heaven is likened by Jesus to a single Pearl of great value — “the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking a goodly pearls; grew, when he had found one Pearl of great price, wind and sold all he had, and bought at.” Later in Matthew we are told, “give not that which is wholly unto the dogs, neither cast he your pearls before swine.” The 12 gates of heaven — the “Pearly Gates” — we read about in Revelations: “and twelve gates were 12 pearls; every several gate was one Pearl; and the street of this city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.”
black pearls
In the modern world fine black pearls continue to revoke a sense of awe and wonder, perhaps even more so but our understanding of how the black Pearl is actually created. For many, the Pearl is seen as a very beautiful and poetic metaphor for life. In a world where we often wonder how we will survive obstacles and stresses that threaten to overwhelm us the black Pearl is an exquisite reminder that from something which might at first appear to be misfortune can come something of great beauty and value, something that would not otherwise have been created at all. For, as you will see, the Pearl it self is something that would never have been created without adversity and struggle! And perhaps even more important whether or not there will be a Black Pearl at all, and the quality and beauty of the black Pearl, depend upon what the individual mollusk does to deal with the situation; not all mollusks in the same situation create a black Pearl, and of those that do, not all create something beautiful. And so it is with life.
We don’t know exactly when or where the Pearl was discovered, but it is likely that it was long before recorded history, probably by someone searching for food, possibly a member of an ancient fish eating people. Whatever the case there is little doubt that the Pearl was highly valued from the very first, for a beauty as unique as its origin.
Unlike diamonds and most colored gemstones, its beauty is there for all to behold from the very first moment. It needs no enhancement: it needs no cutting or polishing. A fine Pearl has a depth and lustrousness that seems to actually glow from within. Imagine how it must had seemed to an ancient people when one of their clan, perhaps while he or shucking and mussel, discovered a shimmering, round, glowing Pearl! In an age when people were shipped the forces and elements of other things, imagine not only does surprise, but the awe and mystery that must have surrounded the moment. Imagine what must have gone through their minds when they beheld this natural beauty, coming as a gift from a living creature, radiating a lustrousness that must have seemed nothing less than a living spirit.
It is not difficult to believe that the Black Pearl was truly the first gem — something beautiful, rare, and highly prized. To ancient peoples you believed that inanimate objects possessed special powers that could be transmitted to the owner or wearer, a Black Pearls — coming from a living sea creature and exhibiting an inner glow suggestive of life itself — must surely have seemed a treasure more powerful and more valuable than all else!
The allure of the Black Pearl is timeless and universal. Since the beginning of recorded history, Black Pearls have been extolled as a metaphor for life itself, for virtue and love, wisdom and justice, spirituality and righteousness. Always regarded as one of the rarest, most valuable and symbolic of all gems, its praises are some by the great poets of every age; it is praised in every culture, from ancient China, India, Persia, Egypt, Greece and Rome, to the Mayan, Aztec and Inc. in cultures of the Americas, and even the ancient cultures of the South Pacific and Australia.
The illustrious history of the Pearl is unparalleled. Today’s Brookstone for June, the Black Pearl has a history more ancient, more fascinating, more spiritual, and more regal than any other gem. The portrait collections of the world’s great museums most vividly illustrate the unrivaled reverence and prestige reserved for the Black Pearl. Here, as one’s pearls through the generations, we can see that in every age, history’s most illustrious men and women chose to be adorned in pearls for the images they wished to leave to prosperity. What good more dramatically high light the allure of the Pearl then seeing that from among all of their riches, the Black Pearl was the gem of choice.
The world’s greatest literature has extolled the value and virtue of the Black Pearl. We find it in most ancient of Chinese books; in the ancient sacred books of the Hindus; a Bible; the Talmud; the Koran; Dante; Shakespeare; in the writings of the greatest Roman historian, Pliny, from whom we have learned so much about the gems of the world and the police surrounding them up to that time.
Tahitian black pearls
