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The World's Most Natural BeautyWhen I think of pearls, I think of the 1980s and the plastic replication of these gems in long strands weighted down by a tight knot at belly button level. They came in various effervescent hues, including fluorescent, and the fashion philosophy at that time was the more you had the cooler you were.
Today, pearls have slipped back into the wardrobe of the conservative classic look, a virtual staple of every "older woman's" closet. Needless to say, the pearl's natural and cultural evolution has impacted more than just the world of the fashionista and, as charted by the ROM's recent exhibition Pearls: A Natural History, its ever-changing and fascinating narrative crosses continents and centuries in a grail-like quest for the ideal sphere.
Prior to the diamond or any other "cut" gem, the pearl was the ultimate token of wealth and good fortune. It also became a prime propellor of international trade as far back as 4,000 years ago, when without wetsuits or scuba-diving gear, pearl divers scaped the bottom of the Indian Ocean for centuries.
John Steinbeck's classic novel The Pearl chronicles expeditions and the greed-induced lust for the material rewards pearls might promise. The novel's ultimate message was that the tragedy presided over the quest for wealth, but since when has mass culture ever listened to the lessons of great literature? The allure of the pearl was l
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23/9/2004 | Viewed 8,133 time(s)
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