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Style talk: Timeless essence of the pearl jewellery

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Last updated: November 18, 2022

pearl jewellery
pearl jewellery - timeless style

The timeless is always couture.

When we talk about couture lifestyle we can not pass on talking about timeless styles. Timeless fashion, like “classic” fashion, implies design that always remains on trend. Timelessness applies to iconic, centerpiece items, built to last the test of both time and trend. Pearl jewellery represents one of the biggest and longest lasting trends to have dominated the fashion world. No longer reserved for special occasions or grandma’s jewellery box,  they are constantly showcased in new and exciting ways by top designers and brands. Pearls are consistently adapting and updating to reflect the latest jewellery trends.

The freshwater pearls are the most commonly produced ones, they are grown in mussels living in rivers and lakes. Their unique shapes and wide range of colours combined with their affordable prices and timeless character gave them special place among jewellery designers and jewellery crafters.

Pearls were used in jewellery as early as Ancient Greece, but it’s likely they dated back even further than this.  Today most of the pearls is known as “cultured pearls".  The first ever cultured pearls are developed by K. Mikimoto in Japan in 1893. This means that a small piece of mollusk tissue or a bead was artificially placed into the mollusk, which covered it with nacre. Nacre is the material of pearls and the longer the growing period for a given pearl, the better the formed nacre is in terms of quality. However, pearls that are cultivated for a longer time are also more expensive.

There is difference between saltwater and freshwater pearls.

Saltwater pearls have a thinner nacre coating, around 1-5 mm while freshwater ones, on the other hand, are made almost entirely of nacre. Also saltwater pearls are usually only round shape and the freshwater ones come in a greater variety of shapes (round, oval, etc.) and colours.

Freshwater pearls come in a variety of natural pastel colours such as lavender, pink, and every shade in between. They also vary in shapes, ranging from potato-shaped and stick pearls, rice-shaped and button shaped, coin-shaped and drop pearls, off-round and round.

pearl jewellery coco chanel
Coco Chanel wearing her iconic pearl jewellery

Pearls in modern fashion.

In 17th and 18th century Europe, royal and aristocratic women wore rare pearls mounted on amazing tiaras to dazzle and impress. However, the pearls adorned the necklines of ladies of fame and fortune, as old social conventions were capsized. In the 1920s, it was fashionable to wear long, simple strands of cultured or imitation pearls called sautoirs. The screen goddesses of Hollywood movies and, followed by fashionable, media-friendly celebrities have guided uphold the timeless glamour of pearls.

In 1930s, pearl jewellery indeed begins to emerge into popular culture and modern art and design. In 1936,  Coco Chanel wore multiple strands of pearls draped over her shoulders, creating the iconic style.  "A woman needs ropes and ropes of pearls," declared Coco Chanel. She was rarely seen without a pile of pearls casually worn around her neck.  And when Audrey Hepburn appeared as Holly Golighty in 1961 in unforgettable combination of the black Givenchy dress, opera gloves, and iconic multi-strand pearl necklace, pearls were set as the couture item of Hollywood.

 

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