|
Name |
Discovered
|
Description |
Ownership/History |
|
Abernethy
Pearl
(aka 'Little Willie Pearl' or 'Bill's Pearl') |
Scotland |
·
43.6 grains
· 11.5 mm diameter
· freshwater
· hint of lilac |
·
Cairncross jewellery shop, Perth, Scotland |
|
Charles
II Pearls |
1691,
America? |
|
·
presented to Charles II of Spain by the Conde de Palmer of
the Canary Islands
· with 'La Peregrina', worn as earrings by the successive
queens of Spain
· destroyed in a fire, 1734 |
|
Charles
the Bold Jewel |
|
·
includes three ½ inch diameter pear-shaped pearls (approx.
60 grains each) and one large ovate pearl |
·
Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1477)
· sold by a soldier to a Swiss government official
· sold to Jacob Fugger
· passed to Emperor Maximilian II
· passed to Henry VIII of England
· passed to Mary I of England
· given to her husband, King Philip of Spain
· finally restored to a descendant of the original
owner |
|
Cleopatra
Pearls |
|
·
two pearls used as earrings |
· Cleopatra swallowed one, as told by Pliny
· after her death, the other was cut in two and used
to adorn the Venus statue in the Pantheon of Rome |
Gogibus
Pearl |
West
Indies |
·
504 grains
· pear-shaped |
·
brought to Europe by François Gogibus, 1620
· he sold it to Philip IV of Spain
· Princess Yousoupoff |
|
Great
Southern Cross |
1886,
Australia |
·
nine large, united pearls forming a cross |
·
Vatican |
|
Hope
Pearl |
|
·
1800 grains
· irregular pear-shaped
· baroque
· white-green colour |
·
London banker Henry Philip Hope
· sold by Christie's, 1886
· owned by Messrs. Garrard & Company of London |
|
La
Huerfana
(aka 'La Sola') |
1515,
Tararequi, Panama Gulf |
·
124 grains
· pear-shaped |
·
acquired from Tararequi indians
· sold by Gaspar de Morales to a merchant
· sold it to Pedrarias de Avila
· passed eventually to Emperor Charles V |
|
La Pellegrina* |
India |
·
111.5 grains
· rounded
· silvery colour |
·
taken to Moscow by the Zozima brothers (18th century) who
had purchased it from an English admiral that had returned
from India
· in the possession of the Princess Youssoupoff |
|
La
Peregrina
(aka 'Philip II Pearl') |
1560?,
Panama? or 1574? Venezuela? |
·
134 grains
· pear-shaped |
·
found by a slave in Panama or found in the Venezuelan fisheries
· presented to Philip II of Spain, 1560
· purchased by Richard Burton for Elizabeth Taylor,
1969 |
|
La
Régente |
|
·
337 grains |
·
mounted into the tiara of the French Empress Marie Louise,
1811
· mounted into a brooch by Napoleon, 1853
· purchased by the Princess Yousoupoff, 1887 |
|
La Reine de Perles* |
India |
·
111½ grains
· round |
·
purchased from gem-dealer Bazu, 1699
· stolen with other French Crown Jewels, 1792 |
|
Mancini
Pearl |
|
·
two pearls, 200 grains each
· drop-shaped |
·
given to Queen Henrietta Maria of England by her husband,
Charles I
· sold to Louis XIV
· he gave it to Maria Mancini
· purchased by Christie's New York, 1979 |
|
Nordica
Pearl |
|
·
175 grains
· abalone drop-pearl
· greenish hue, red-colour |
·
American opera singer Madam Nordica |
The
Orange Pearls |
|
·
three strings |
·
inherited by Frederick I, King of Prussia, 1703 |
Oviedo
Pearl |
1515?,
Panama Gulf |
·
104 grains |
·
probably acquired by Gaspar de Morales from the Tararequi
indians
· purchased by Gonzalo de Oviedo
· this is probably the Morales/Pizarro pearl thought
to be amongst the Austrian Crown Jewels |
Pearl
of Asia |
|
·
2,420 grains
· baroque |
·
Emperor of China, 16th century
· bought by Foreign Missions of Paris, 1918 |
Queen
Elizabeth Pearls |
|
·
four drop-shaped |
·
Elizabeth I of England |
Queen
Pearl
(aka Tiffany Queen Pearl) |
1857,
New Jersey |
·
93 grains
· sphere
· freshwater
· pinkish colour |
·
found by shoemaker David Howell
· purchased by Tiffany & Co
· later sold to the Empress Eugénie
· currently displayed at the University of Pennsylvania |
Thiers
Pearl Necklace |
|
·
145 pearls in three rows
· 2,079 grains (aggregate) |
·
wife of President Thiers of France
· bequeathed to the Louvre |
Van
Buren Pearls |
|
·
two pendant pearls, approx. 30 grains each
· a necklace with 148 pearls, 700 grains (aggregate) |
·
presented to President Van Buren by the Imam of Muscat, 1840
· held in the Treasury Department vaults until transfer
to the National Museum |
Notes
*
La Reine des Perles was probably renamed La Pellegrina.
Sources
Kunz, G. F. and C. H. Stevenson. The Book of the Pearl.
New York: The Century Co., 1908.
Manutchehr-Danai, M. Dictionary of Gems and Gemology,
3rd ed. New York: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2009.
|
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