ormed over long years through the efforts of shelled mollusks, pearls capture us with their sheen and their elegant colour. Whether as classic pearl necklaces or in combination with other precious gemstones – pearl jewellery has always enjoyed great popularity because of its outstanding beauty. We offer jewellery made of natural pearls and historic seed pearls along with selected pieces of high-quality cultivated pearls.
Different kinds of molluscs from all of the world’s seas produce these small precious treasures in countless colours and sizes. Large salt water pearls are the finest and largest natural pearls. They are largely used for pearl necklaces or used as the centrepiece of important pieces of diamond jewellery. When they came into fashion among the crowned heads of Europe around 1860, it was not just their beauty that encouraged their popularity. Pearls served as an economic status symbol and were worn in almost exaggerated numbers around the neck, upper body and arms. They were even weighed in gold right up until the beginning of the 20th century!
In addition to salt water pearls, fresh water pearls were also made into jewellery along with the nearly extinct native river pearls. In their Baroque form, which is not round and somewhat strange in shape, they enjoyed great popularity among Art Nouveau jewellers. Seed pearls by contrast are particularly small pearls. They were used as trim for gold jewellery or threaded together by the hundreds and knotted onto mother-of-pearl holders. This precious jewellery was once a typical piece for wedding ceremonies.
In contrast to natural and seed pearls, cultivated pearls finally emerged through human influence on the molluscs. Kokichi Mikimoto of Japan was the first to cultivate pearls in large quantities in the early 1920s. Just like natural pearls, his fully round pearls were at first only available in small quantities and were coveted as such. With the expansion of farms into the present, the price of cultivated pearls continued to fall while their quality continued to increase. However, the shine, form, lustre and colours of natural pearls remained more individual and for that reason more fascinating.
