PEARLS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16465, 29 June 1921, Page 7

PEARLS.

MYSTICAL STORIES. WHY THEY LOSE THEIR j LUSTRE. “It is just as well that steps are at | least being taken to sell the magni- j ficent pearl necklace bequeathed by 1 Mdme. Thiers to tho Louvre- for had it remained on exhibition much longer it might have perished entirely. Over twenty years ago the Thiers necklace began to suffer from tho mysterious disease to which pearls are liable, and which experts define *is a form of starvation. Pearls thrive by contact with humanity, and jewellers maintain that they should be worn on tho bare skin. When tho Thiers necklace first showed signs of deterioration it was suggested j that if the Louvre authorities lent it to some lady willing to wear it regularlv for a time (there would have been j no lack of volunteers for the task) the j gems would eventually recover their , lustre. But. according to the will oi Mdme. Thiers, the necklace must not 1 be removed from tho Louvre, ho year j bv year the pearls have become shrivelled and unsightly.” I A COURT’S ORDER. V In a. general way. bearing out the belief expressed in the above extract . from the Manchester Guardian ' that contact with the human body is necessary to sustain the “life” ot pearls, is a recent press despatch from Sau Francisco telling of a. superior court order issued there directing awoman to wear for thirty days each year a 10,000 dol. necklace ot" a deceased relative, in order to keep the pearls alive ” by bodily contact. Since the death of the relative the pearls had not been worn, .and the court was told that as n result they had lost much of their lustre- The order to -wear them thirty days a year iol- j lowed that assertion- _ i According to Julius Modiskn. ot New York, however, the idea that tho warmth of tho human body will prevent pqarls from losing their natural brilliancy or “dying” is altogether j wrong. On the other band, be as- j sorts to an interviewer from tho New ; York “Times,” if the wearer per- j spires at all freely, or if the perspira- . tion contains an excess of acidity, the ; pearls are attacked to their obvious det- ; riraent, just, as readily *as is the gold jewel lory which* under similar condilions, discolours the skin, with green- . ish marks. PEARLS REQUIRE CAREFUL TI! EATMEXT. “ I know of no article of feminine adornment more beautiful than pearls or pearl necklaces, ’ Mr W odi-ska wetti. on “ and if proper care ot them i* taken they will retain their lustre and value indefinitely. To begin with. the> should bo kept in as even a temperature as possible, for they expand and contract on exposure to heat and co>d. If thev are brought in contact with hot, damp or gaseous atmospheres they will absorb tho impurities- and the brillianev of the outer skill will deteriorate. Therefore, when pearl.- are not in use core should be taken to store them in places where the atmosphere is as even and pure as possible. “ It sometimes happens that, uae to an excessive use of powder on the part of the wearer, a necklace will get a coating of it. When that happens, of course, the pearls have no more lustre than so many alabaster beads. “ All pearl necklaces should he carefully wiped after they arc worn, a sort piece of chamois being best for the purpose. Tho wiping will remove a foreign substances from them, as well as anv secretions from the body that might dim their lustre ultimately if not removed. It is also well to wij>e them, even though they have only been handled. “ Another factor in the care of pearl* that, it seems to me, is very often neglected is the need of their retaining their normal moisture content. In the composition of a pearl there are ‘.»2 per cent of carbonate of lime, 0 per cent of organic matter and 2 per cent of water. It is very essential that this 2 per cent of water he retained in the pearl. The loss of it is probably the reason why pearls occasionally crack while in stock. “Therefor© the receptacle in winch the pearls are kept should not be of an absorbent material, such as cotton or velvet, nor should pearls come in contact with any material coloured by chemicals. All ot these, in time, have a deteriorating effect on the delicate, brilliant skins of the pearl, largely through the ultimate absorption of the pearl’s water content by the material with which it conies in contact. Experiments have shown me that the best r< - . suits can be obtained bv keeping pearls in a container lined with a fmo quality of oil silk. Dealers might find it advisable to use such receptacles for carrying their stock, duo to the non-absor-bent quality of the oil silk lining. CEYLONESE METHOD OF RESTORI NO LUSTF. E. j “' Although there is no method known | that will positively guarantee the : restoj ration of the lustre of a pearl which has become dull through careless handling, the Ceylonese are said to have a novel way of trying to restore it. They simply feed dull pearls to chickens. After the pearls remain in the chickens crops a few hours the animals arc killed and the pearls removed. The light friction to which hare been subjected in the crops of the chickens is supposed to restore their lustre, rt least to some extent. ■■ As thev are formed in layers, like an onion, it is possible for men skilled in the art to peel a ‘ dead ’ pearl by removing the outer skin. The danger 'n this method of attempted restoration lies in the fact that while the skin below mav be more perfect and possess more lustre, there is no certainty that this is so.” Although the ancient poets ascribed the pearl to a drop of dew or tears of the angels dropping into the open >hel! to receive them. Mr Wodiska went on. thev would have been closer to the truth had they referred to them tears of torture. Pearls arc really dm to an accident befalling the oyster which them, such as the lodgment nf a grain of sand or of some parasite in the shell. In order to free itself from the irritating object, he said, the oyster begins immediately to cover it with the pearly solution or' nacre. This i action of the oyster is as mechanical as the flushing of the human eye with tears when some foreign substance gets 1 into it.