String Theory

From Cleopatra to Harry Styles: the evolution of pearls

- Megan C Hills

It’s said that Cleopatra once won a bet against Mark Antony by dissolving her pearl earring in a glass of wine as an aperitif, proving she had hosted the most expensive dinner. While natural pearls were once regarded as the most sacred of gems and were highly sought after by the upper echelons of society, the shimmering orbs have since become more accessible thanks to developments in pearl culturing. Over millennia, they’ve transformed from grand imperial symbols to must-have TikTok accessories, in a fascinating tale of human innovation.

Pearls have long captivated civilisations all over the world, but one of their earliest recorded mentions comes from China. In the third millennium BC, a Chinese historian disparaged a royal who gifted the emperor a “string of pearls not quite round” in a text known as the Shu King, setting a precedent for the pursuit of flawless spherical orbs, rather than the imperfect styles more popular today.

As well as coming with unbelievable price tags, pearls have long been associated with godliness across various cultures. In Indian mythology, the god Krishna bestowed his daughter with wedding pearls, while ancient Greeks described Aphrodite emerging from the surf wearing pearl earrings in the Iliad. As time passed, they became associated with royalty; in ancient Rome, for example, Julius Caesar decreed only the ruling class could don strings of pearls.