COSTLY JEWELS,

New Zealand Tablet, Volume III, Issue 152, 31 March 1876, Page 8

COSTLY JEWELS,

The Easterns have always had a great fancy for those drops of solidified dew, as they call the fine pearls with which they give pomp and magnificence to their beautiful costumes. The Jews who were near the Persian Gulf, where the finest pearls are fished, must have known them from early tunes. Job is the earliest author in Holy Writ who makes mention of pearls. He says : — "' No mention shall be made of coral or of pearls, for the price of rubies is above wisdom." And pearls are of ton mentioned in the Proverbs of Solomon. After the conquests of Alexander, when the Macedonians had effected the conquest of the East, luxury was carried to the highest extent, and pearls were among the most highly esteemed of jewels. At the period of their greatest splendor, the Eomans wore garments embroidered with pearls, and the Roman ladies covered their arms and shoulders with them, and strung them in their hair. The value of these jewels came very near to that of the diamond. Julius Cresar presented to Servilia, the mother of Brutus, and sister of Cato, a pearl which was estimated to be worth .£14,000. The celebrated pearls which adorned the ears of Cleopatra cost £1 50,000, and xa the fete given by^ Anthony she is reported to have dissolved in vinegar, and drunk in* a pint of wine, a pearl worth .£60.000. One fact is certain, that long before the discovery of the New World, the red Indians of America wore necklaces and bracelets of fine pearls. Two centuries ago a pearl was purchased at Cattf a, by Tavernier, the traveller, and sold to the Shah of Persia for ,£112,000. Philip 11., of Spain, received from America a pearl that weighed twenty-five carats, and was valued at =£3,200. An Arab prince possessed the most beautiful pearl known— the most beautiful, not so much on account of its suse, as because it was so clear and transparent that the li^ht could be seen through it. It weighed only twelve carats and a s lxbh.butherefusedto take £\> 000 for it. The Shah of Persia possesses a diadem, each pearl in which is larger than, a hazel-nut. Its value is incalculable. At the Grand Exposition of 1535, the Queen of England exhibited some splendid pearls, and the Emperor of the French exhibited a collection of 40S pearls, weighing nearly two hundred aud forty-seven grains each, all of fine°form and water. The united value was £20,000. At the same Exhibition, also, was a magnificent Orient pearl, as lar^e as a partridge's egg, tvhich was valued at a high price by connoisseurs ; and if the fellow to it could only be found, the pair would fetch a, price that could not easily he estimated.