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New Zealand Graphic, Volume IX, Issue 28, 9 July 1892, Page 687

Pearls a Bak Investment. —Pearls are very perishable. They cannot be considered a first-rate investment like diamonds. After a time they decay. Sometimes a fine specimen will lose its lustre and beauty within a few months, so that the possessor of such treasures does well to keep them put away in a sealed place. They are very delicately made, consisting of thin films overlaid one upon another, with more or less animal matter between the layers, and it is no wonder that they deteriorate. After being buried in the ground for a while they are found worthless. Those which are dug out of Indian graves—some of them of great size and doubtless of wonderful beauty when they were new—are utterly valueless, even when they are not pierced. Nevertheless, there is a pure and evanescent beauty about them which seems better to become the maiden than any other sort of jewel. Nothing varies so much in value as pearls. With them fashion affects the market constantly. Sometimes white ones are sought, while other tints at intervals are in demand. For some years past black pearls have been the rage. A fine specimen worth £l2O will fetch £2OO, perhaps, if another can be got to match it perfectly.