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Abalone Pearl    The Colors of Pearls

Natural Pearls

Pearl DiverSymbol of pure heart and mind; innocence, faith.

Of the sea, it has watery and lunar elements, thus balancing emotions, especially for water signs.

It is known as a "stone of sincerity" bringing truth and loyalty to a cause. It discourages boisterous behavior and enables us to see how we appear to others.

Used for treatment of digestive disorders and to relieve bloating, treats the soft organs of the body and eases childbirth.

Absorbs emotional stress. Low integrity or anger rebounds to user (like Opal). Cleanse frequently.

Fire signs less compatible unless drawn to Pearl. May cool and soothe.

The pearl is one of the planetary gems, associated with the moon.

Known as Aphrodite's tears of joy, dew drops filled with moonlight, and Krishna's wedding gift to his daughter, the pearl has long been associated with romance.

In the Vedas, the oldest sacred book of the Brahmans there are several allusions to pearl decorations a millennium or more before the Christian era. In fact the word, Krisana and its derivatives are generally translated as meaning "pearl".

At the height of the Roman Empire, the Roman General Vitellius financed an entire war campaign by selling one of his mother's pearl earrings.

In the ancient civilization of China,pearls were greatly esteemed as we know from the frequent mention of them in history. As early as 2200 B.C., pearls were collected as taxes. Pearls were also used in veneration of the idols and as tribute from foreign princes to the emperor.

The popularity of the pearl dates from very early period in Persia as well. A necklace recently found in the sarcophagus of an Achaemenid princess exhumed at Susa dates not later than the fourth century B.C. It is now preserved in the Persian Gallery at the Lourve.

To convince Rome that Egypt possessed a heritage and wealth that put it above conquest, Cleopatra wagered Marc Antony she could give the  most expensive dinner in history. The Roman reclined as the queen sat with an empty plate and a goblet of wine. She crushed a large pearl of a pair of earrings, dissolved it in the wine and drank it down. Antony declined his dinner, the matching pearl and admitted that she had won.

Pliny, the world's first gemologist, wrote that the two pearls were worth the equivalent of $9,375,000 dollars.

In Hebrew tradition, pearls were believed to have been created from the tears Eve wept at being evicted from Eden.

     In the Bible there are numerous references to the value with which pearls were held.

"The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he has found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it" (Matt.xiii.45,46)

    There is also the mention of "casting pearls before swine" in the great Sermon on the Mount (Matt.vii6)

In Rev. xxi. 21 St John speaks of the" twelve gates of pearls".

 
The Book of the PearlThe Book of the Pearl : Its History, Art, Science and Industry by George Frederick Kunz, Charles Hugh Stevenson The Pearl Book, 3rd EditionThe Pearl Book, 3rd Edition: The Definitive Buying Guide: How to Select, Buy Care for & Enjoy Pearls by Antoinette L. Matlins People And PearlsPeople And Pearls : The Magic Endures by Ki Hackney, Diana Edkins

   
   Natural pearls have been known throughout history to be far more costly
and definitely more rare than diamonds or even rubies, emerald or sapphire.
Unfortunately, since the advent of cultured pearls (approx.. 1918), very few
people have ever seen a strand of natural pearls.

In the current traveling art museum exhibit of the "Jewels of the Romanoff's""from Russia there is a single strand of natural pearls approximately one hundred and fifty inches in length with pearls measuring from~8mm to~20mm.

     It is stated that in a single pearl divers lifetime only two or three pearls of this magnitude were ever found.

Considering these numbers the formation of such a strand in truly astounding.

Any shelled mollusk can produce a pearl. A differentiation must be made between
pearls with nacre and pearls without the typical"pearly luster".

     Typically the nacreous pearls are the saltwater including Oriental and Abalone, and the freshwater from North America, South America,China, Canada, Europe, and theoretically any freshwater body that is occupied by any mollusk.

     Non-nacreous pearls include the rare and costly Conch pearl from tropical waters, the pure white Clam pearl, the Scallop pearl, and rarer types from Vietnam, Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and numerous other locales throughout the world.


Picks from the Past: November 1939
The Pearl of Allah
A giant clam yielded its treasure only after slaying a native diver
trapped when its great jaws snapped shut. Worshipped as the gift of
Allah, the 14-pound pearl was finally presented to the author by a
Mohammedan chief whose son he saved from death.

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