Pearls

The Ocean's Most Ancient Secret

Long before diamonds were declared a girl's best friend, pearls were whispering their way into the hearts of empresses and explorers alike. Born of a grain of sand, the Romans called them unio, "the unique one.". Julius Caesar was so obsessed that he passed laws restricting who could wear them. During the Renaissance, pearls were worth more than diamonds. Queen Elizabeth draped herself in them to signal the wealth of an entire empire.

Legend has it, Cleopatra dissolved a pearl earring worth a fortune into vinegar and drank it, just to win a bet about who could throw the most extravagant dinner party. That's the kind of power a pearl holds.