PEARLS 593 



popular taste for articles in the rococo style has not yet died out is furnished by the fact 

 that baroque pearls are sometimes even now treated in the same way. 



Not only button-pearls, which are found attached to the shell, but also the equally 

 irregular fantasy-pearls are sometimes of sufficient beauty to admit of their employment in 

 jewellery. They usually have a hemispherical form when detached from the shell, and are 

 frequently cemented together by their flat surfaces in pairs and worn in ear-rings, or strung 

 together for necklaces. The absence of lustre on the flat surface of such pearls serves 

 to distinguish them from pearls which, though formed free from the shell, are yet 

 hemispherical in form. 



The value of fine pearls is quite comparable with that of the costliest gems, and 

 enormous sums have been paid for large pearls of singular beauty. As in the case of 

 precious stones the value of pearls varies with their size, form, and the general beauty of 

 their appearance. The more perfect the form of a pearl the more valuable does it become, 

 and other things being equal a pearl of irregular form is considerably less valuable than 

 one which is pej-fectly regular. Arranged in order of the degree of esteem in which they 

 are held, we have : first, perfectly spherical pearls ; secondly, those of an equally 

 symmetrical pear-shaped form ; and, finally, ovoidal or egg-shaped pearls. A pearl of the 

 " first water " must possess, beside a symmetrical form, a smooth surface and a perfect 

 " orient,'' the latter, a feature which depends upon the existence of a finely laminated 

 structure ; it must be free from blemishes and fractures, very translucent, and possessed of 

 a fine white colour and a perfect pearly lustre. Provided the lustre is good, fine black 

 pearls, as also those showing deep shades of red, yellow, and other colours, are as costly as 

 those of the purest white. Pearls of even the most beautiful colour and perfect form if 

 they are lacking in " orient " are comparatively valueless. 



The prices of exceptionally large or beautiful pearls are subject to no fixed rules, and 

 depend rather upon the eagerness of the purchaser and the length of his purse. The prices 

 of pearls of ordinary size, such as are bought and sold every day, are governed by the laws of 

 supply and demand, and the same general principles apply as in the case of precious stones. 

 The relation between the size and the price of a pearl is in moderately close agreement with 

 Tavernier's rule ; that is to say, the price of a pearl varies with the square of the weight, 

 the usual unit of weight being the " pearl-grain " ( = ;| carat). A pearl of unit weight will 

 be worth from 2s. to 10s., according to the quality ; the appended table of prices applies to 

 pearls of a quality such that a pearl of unit weight is worth 6s. 



To convey an idea of the relative sizes of pearls of different weights, it may be mentioned 

 that one weighing 3 carats has approximately the size of a pea. 



The price of a string of carefully matched pearls is more in proportion than that of a 

 single pearl would be, for the reason that there is often considerable difficulty in finding a 

 sufficient number of pearls of appropriate size, quality, form, and colour. Considerable time 

 is often needed to make up the required number, during which those already procured and 



2p 



