Pearl

This project is intended for educational purposes and is not a commercial project. All materials are taken from open source stock services and belong to their authors

Designer

The name of this fabulous stone has Chinese roots and sounds like "zhen gzhu"

The Chinese believed that pearls fell from the sky when dragons fought among the clouds during a thunderstorm and raindrops formed. According to other Chinese legends, pearls are moonlight fossilized in water

To the ancient Hindus, pearls were envisioned as dewdrops that fell at night and fell into the open shells of oysters

According to ancient Greek legend, pearls are nothing more than the tears of a sea nymph. Her bitter tears fell directly into the ocean, fell into the open shells of molluscs shells and turned into beautiful pearls

Surprisingly, pearl formation is an immune response to a foreign body trapped in the mantle

In nature, pearls form inside molluscs when a foreign body, such as a micro-organism or parasite, enters their shell. On farms, a piece of mother-of-pearl is inserted into the shell

The fragile oyster is damaged. But nature tries to protect it: a protective shell, the mother-of-pearl, is formed around the foreign body. The fluid secreted by the mollusc builds up layer after layer on top of the ingested particles. Roughness and sharp edges are smoothed out, and the mollusc is no longer damaged

This is the average time it takes for a full-grown pearl to mature. The larger the pearl, the longer it takes to grow

The larger, the more valuable

What's inside a pearl?

Click on the magnifying glass to see what's inside

85-95% — calcium carbonate in the form of aragonite
5-15% — organic substance called conchiolin

Pearls are harvested in the same way in the wild and on farms - specially trained people dive into the water and pull the molluscs to the surface. This method has been used in both ancient and modern times

The Japanese island of Mikimoto is home to around a thousand ama divers. Their work is a constant challenge: they have to endure the cold, go without air for 40 to 80 seconds, and dive to the bottom of the sea up to a hundred times a day

let's dive

for pearls!

Colour depends on temperature, water composition and the health of the oyster

white and round

There are actually thousands of different types of pearls, varying in colour, shape and size. By cultivating pearls, a person can even influence the end result

55,95

carats is the weight of the pearl

$11,8

million dollars is the value of the pearl at Christie's auction

For more than 500 years, the teardrop-shaped La Peregrina pearl has passed from one owner to another. The pearl has had at least 12 owners, including 8 Spanish kings, 2 Spanish heads of state, a family of English aristocrats and a Hollywood celebrity

Cartier necklace, 1972

Mary Tudor, 16th century

Margaret of Austria, 16th century

Elizabeth Taylor, 1969

This map shows exhibitions and museums dedicated to the beautiful wonder of nature — pearls

Click on a point on the map to find out more

The longread was developed by

Do you like pearls?

This project is intended for educational purposes and is not a commercial project. All materials are taken from open source stock services and belong to their authors

Ras El Khaimah

Pearl Museum

United Arab Emirates, Ras Al Khaimah

Al Qawasim Corniche, Ras Al-Khaimah

10.00-18.00, Fri — day off

Telephone number:
+971 50 198 0480

The museum's exposition tells the story of the development of the fishing industry, its technology and also displays the best examples of Arabian pearls, such as the "Miracle of Arabia"

Permanent Exhibitions

Learn how to tell the difference between genuine and fake pearls

Pearl Museum

UAE, Dubai

United Arab Emirates, Dubai

Emirates NBD, 10 Baniyas Road, Port Saeed — Dubai

Mon-Fri: 8:00-16:00, Sat and Sun — days off

Telephone number:
+971 4 201 2713

In addition to jewellery, the museum features installations on the lives of divers and sailors, where you can see in great detail the tools they used to extract and transport their precious cargo

Permanent Exhibitions

The museum features installations celebrating the lives of divers and seafarers

Pearl museum

Bahrain

Bahrain, Manama

Al Khalifa Ave, Manama, Bahrain

For more information on opening hours, please call

Phone number:
+973 1757 8181

The museum exposition is a collection of the most diverse pearls. Here you can not only see very rare types of pearls, but also learn in detail about the technology of their extraction. Most interesting is the simple underwater equipment that the ancient Bahrainis used to go down to the bottom of the sea in search of unique jewellery

Permanent Exhibitions

The museum building is considered one of the most important historical buildings in Bahrain

The Robert Wang

pearl museum

French Polynesia, Papeete

BP 850 Boulevard Pomare, Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia

Mon-Sat:
09:00 - 17:00, Sunday — day off

Phone number:
+689 46 15 54

The museum houses the world's first collection of cultured black pearls, for which Tahiti is famous. The exhibition focuses on the history, religion, traditions and legends associated with pearls, from prehistoric times to the present day, and introduces the pearl farming industry

Permanent Exhibitions

The highlight of the collection is the largest round pearl of rare grey colour, "grown" in Tahiti, measuring 26 mm in diameter and weighing 8.7 grams

pearl museum

Hainan Island

China, Hainan Island, Sanya Province

Haiyu West Line Fenghuangzhen, Tianya Qu, Sanya Shi, Hainan Sheng

Mon-Sat:
08:00 - 19:00,
Sun: 09:00 - 19:00

Phone number:
+86 898 8834 1805

There are six halls in the museum: the first hall tells the history of pearls, the second hall tells about the cultivation and processing of pearls, the third hall tells about the art of jewellery making, the fourth hall tells about the importance of pearls in the modern world, the fifth hall tells about the use of pearls in fashion, and the sixth hall tells about the use of pearls in medicine and cosmetology

Permanent Exhibitions

Here you can see the process of making pearl jewellery

Mikimoto

pearl museum

Japan, Nara, Toba

1-7-1 Toba City, Mie

Open daily:
09:00 - 16:30

The Mikimoto Pearl Museum is named after the jeweller Kokichi Mikimoto, who turned the cheap folk craft of pearl harvesting into a national industry. The museum displays specimens of oysters in which pearls are grown and pieces of jewellery

Permanent Exhibitions

Here you can see the ama diver show

references

Texts

Works of art

A Sea-Nymph (1881)
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones (English, 1833 – 1898)

A Mermaid (1900)
John William Waterhouse (English, 1849 - 1917)

The Storm
Follower of Ludolf Backhuysen (Dutch, 1630-1708)

In The Field
Grigory Grigorievich Myasoedov (Russian, 1834-1911)

«irthday Portrait of a Young Manchu Lady, c. 1800-1850
Unknown artist, China

The Virgin Mary With The Christ Child And The Infant Saint John The Baptist
Joan Macip (Spanish, 1507-1579)

Mary Tudor, Queen of England (1554)
Mor, Anthonis Utrecht (Netherlands), 1516 - Antwerp? (Belgium), 1576

Portrait of Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain (1609)
Bartolome Gonzalez y Serrano (Spanish, 1564−1627)

Creation of Adam (1511)
Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italian, 1475-1564)

Photo, video, graphics