Pearls by Angela Carol

Legends of the pearl

Pearls have always been known as beautiful and exotic pieces of jewelry.  They have a very long history in which they are treasured in many, many cultures and have been for thousands of years.  They are still held with great admiration even in today’s world but through out history the pearl has seen such greatness that only the stories and legends of the wonderful pearl can give you any ideas of how valuable the pearls was to all of our ancient ancestors.

One of the most popular and loved legends about pearls would be the one that involves Cleopatra and Marc Antony.   In this pearl legend it is said by a historian of the ancient times of a sort named Plutarch that Cleopatra had bet Marc Antony of Rome that Egypt was to grand and wealthy a state to be conquered by Rome.  To prove this she held a grand banquet in his honor and sat down to a dinner that would win her the bet she had placed.  She sat with an empty plate and a goblet of wine (or vinegar) in front of her.  She then proceeded to crush one of the largest and grandest pearls that anyone had ever seen before and put it into her goblet.  She then drank the concoction down.  Marc Antony was amazed and declined his dinner (which was another matching pearl to Cleopatra’s dinner) and declared that she had won the bet.  There is actually history that shows Egypt was already conquered at the time of the banquet but it is a beautiful story none the less and it shows the greatness that the pearl held in many peoples eyes.

Another pearl story actually involves the Egyptian princess again.  It is said that Cleopatra would dissolve pearls in vinegar and drink the concoction.  The result would be that the drink would preserve her beauty.  This legend also has some basis in the Chinese legends of the first Emperor of the Shin kingdom and also the famed Chinese beauty named Yang Kuie-fei.  The Emperor was said to search every where with a huge effort in order to find many pearls.  He believed that they would prevent the aging process.  The Chinese beauty was said to also put powdered pearls into a mixture and consume it to keep her beauty just as Cleopatra did.

Legends of pearls are scattered throughout our history in almost every culture there was.  There are legends of pearls even in the tales of Arabian Nights.  There are many fine and valued pieces of jewelry that contain many pearls.  The British royal crown is one such item.  In ancient Rome, pearls were used as mere buttons to show the wealth of the wearer.

Today pearls still hold the same beauty that they have through out history.  They are found all over the world.  The majority of pearls today are cultivated pearls and there are many pearl farms that can be found.  There is always a great demand for the exotic and loved pearl. 

Today there is still a lot of wonderful and beautiful pieces of jewelry that are made out of pearls.  You can find pearl jewelry and even fine specimens of pearls in the most expensive jewelry collection in the world.  Although pearls were once held with great esteem and reserved only for the extremely wealthy in today’s world the pearl is much more accessible to the every day person.  When once in time it would be unheard of for a common person to own any type of pearl, today it is the norm.  Throughout history and very much today, the pearl has been valued and desired.  The pearl will hopefully continue this for thousands of years to come.