Bold Beauties

Luxury Vintage Earrings with South Sea Pearls & Diamonds, ca. 1985

€ 9,790.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Luxury Vintage Earrings with South Sea Pearls & Diamonds, ca. 1985

Description

This description was automatically translated from German. If you have any questions about this piece of jewellery, we will be happy to help!

The ancient author Pliny considered pearls to be the most precious commodity of all. In his Naturalis Historia, he tells of a bet made by Cleopatra with Marcus Antonius: she wanted to eat the equivalent of ten million sesterces at a single lavish banquet. For this purpose, she had a cup of vinegar served to her at the appropriate time. Before the eyes of the emperor, who was already confident of victory, she dissolved one of her pearl earrings - and drank the liquid. Cleopatra's pearl earrings were considered the largest and most precious in the ancient world, valued at the very value she announced she was going to eat. The act was so shocking for those present that the referee Lucius Plancus hurried to declare her the winner of the bet - so that she would not sacrifice the second pearl. The fact that large, round pearls like the ones set here were no longer the sole preserve of queens in the 20th century is thanks to the Japanese entrepreneur Mikimoto. He recognized the huge demand for pearls that could never be met by pearl diving - and invented a process to grow pearls on demand. In doing so, he triggered the great pearl fashion of that century. A more recent phenomenon in the history of pearl cultivation, on the other hand, are the so-called South Sea pearls. For a long time, only the Akoya pearls bred in Japan were available in a quality that could hold its own with natural pearls. It was not until the late 1970's that pearls from various countries south of Japan entered the world market. Japanese experts had successfully applied the knowledge of domestic pearl cultivation to the pearl oyster species "Pinctada Maxima", which had not been used in Japan until then and which can produce particularly large pearls: The "South Sea pearl" was born. The present earrings date from the early days of South Sea pearl cultivation, when luxurious pearl necklaces and earrings belonged in every well-stocked jewelry box. The earrings each present a particularly large, teardrop-shaped South Sea pearl, Stepped settings hold the precious sea treasures and lead over to the studs, each set with a quality brilliant-cut diamond of half a carat. The warm, silky luster of the pearls is the perfect complement to the cool luster of the diamonds and platinum from which the pendants are crafted. The earrings, dating from the 1980s, are very well preserved. To this day, they beautifully capture the opulent elegance of the decade. An independent appraisal has confirmed the quality of the materials and is included with the pair.

Learn more

The bet of Cleopatra is described by Pliny in Book IX, ch. 58. The scene was depicted in a painting by Tiepolo, among others; a beautiful copy of his work can be found in Dessau, in the Gothic House.

Learn more

Size & Details

Bold Beauties

€ 9,790.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Our Promise

We want you to be 100% satisfied! For that reason, we examine, describe and photograph all of our jewellery with the utmost care.

You can rely on our years of experience in the trade and our expertise as a professional art historians for reviews of the antique jewellery. As a member of various trade organisations and the British Society of Jewellery Historians, we remain committed to the highest possible degree of accuracy. In our descriptions, we always also indicate any signs of age and defects and never hide them in our photos – this saves you from any unpleasant surprises when your package arrives.

Should you for some reason not be satisfied, please don’t hesitate to contact us so that we can find a solution together. In any case, you can return any article within one month and we will refund the full purchase price.

Learn more

Bold Beauties

Earrings

Privacy settings