PEARLS - The Magical and Mysterious Tear Drops of God

Imagine this: A human discovers a lovely lustrous pearl inside an oyster….  Ever since the first pearl was found gleaming inside a shell, pearls have been coveted, cherished and treasured by people across the world. 

The world’s only gemstone found within a living creature (oyster and molluscs), the mystique of the pearl has fascinated royalty, merchants, explorers and traders. The Arabs believed that the pearl was a tear drop of God that had fallen in to the ocean and made its way into the oyster. The Greeks believed that the Goddess Aphrodite shed tears of pearls. 

Pearls are symbolic of wisdom gained through experience. The gems are believed to offer protection and a magnet for good luck and wealth. They are well-known for their calming effects. Pearls have a way of bringing balance to your karma. Pearls also keep children safe and protected while strengthening the  wearer’s relationships. These   lovely gemstones are symbolic of the wearer’s loyalty, generosity, integrity, and purity.

The Romans adored pearls and decreed that only royalty and aristocracy were eligible to wear them.  Later,the  British Empire too reserved pearls exclusively for royalty and nobility. Although there was no royal decree to support the policy, the exorbitant cost of pearls made it beyond the reach of most people.

The British royal passion for pearls launched Spanish Armadas to the Mexican Gulf, France to French Polynesia and the British to Australia on a quest for pearls. Once there, they wasted no time in harvesting as many oysters that they could reach. Unfortunately, not all oysters contain pearls, and many of the creatures were simply forced open and then discarded when no pearls were found. 

Unfortunately, not all oysters contain pearls. Hence and many of the creatures were simply prised open and then discarded when no pearls were found. This exploitative practice of over-harvesting of oysters in pearl-producing regions drove in oysters across the world to the brink of extinction.

 Fortunately, the invention of modern pearl culturing technologies halted the devastation of the world’s natural oyster population. Today, technology driven human intervention, has created cultured pearls in oyster farms across the world.  pearl lovers around the world enjoy these lovely lustrous gems at prices that would have been unimaginable for early explorers.