Pearls on the High Seas: Basics for a Day on the Water (or a Night on the Wharf)

Given their origin, it’s fitting to associate pearls with the sea. As such, they are the ideal accoutrement for a day out on the water, and luckily, they can also transition perfectly to your evening adventures once you’ve hit shore. 

A Day Cruise 

The cruise setting can be utilized for both business or pleasure, and pearls fit it naturally for any occasion. Whether you are at a networking event, seeking that whale sighting, or enjoying a lobster educational cruise, pearls should be on your shortlist for accessories. They can be simple in nature, like a set of studs or a single pendant, or you can have fun with it and pair your trip with a conversation piece by a unique designer. If you don’t already own one, the shops and galleries of your harbor town are brimming with local talent specific to the area. 

Keshi pearl post earrings with diamond in rose gold by Keith Field.

A Personal Yacht Trip 

A night party on the boat calls for luxury and the classics - and nothing fits that brief quite like pearls. Once you have felt the softness and weight of a large South Sea pearl strand you will never want to wear anything else. And don’t limit yourself when it comes to color; high-quality pearls come in yellows, whites, blacks, and many variations in between, so your options are wide open to find the most fitting piece for the perfect evening. Looking for more of a sport ride than a leisurely float? Stick to classic posts with a silk scarf. While pearls are resistant to damage from salt spray, best practice is to keep your extra fine pieces at home during a more adventurous ride. 

Handmade South Sea pearl station necklace by Keith Field.

Adventurous Water Activities 

Speaking of those of you seeking a more active day on the water, you can still dress for the occasion! Of course, safety is the primary concern, and second comes the preservation of your fine jewelry. For water sports, don’t shy away from donning your pearls; everyday minimal pearl earrings or a pearl pendant on a cord will give you full freedom to be active but also look great in those candid photos. You'll feel great and be ready to rock the brewery, food truck, or clambake after you ride the waves. 

Yes, for the Men as Well 

The mention of pearls may harken images of Audrey Hepburn or Elizabeth Taylor, but men have also donned pearls for thousands of years. Men wearing pearls is particularly significant in connection to maritime culture; many a sea captain and privateer wore pears as status symbols of wealth and power. With a wide variety of colors and sizes, pearls have the ability to carry a masculine feel, especially when paired with leather or other more rustic materials. Rock your beachy style with a large designer pearl pendant paired with a crisp white shirt, or be more adventurous with pearl stud earrings or even a pearl featured on your bracelet.

Pearls Through the Ages

If you follow the story of pearls through the ages, you will discover an interesting and evolving presence in the world of fashion. Studying the commissioned paintings of the most prominent members of high society - from Elisabeth of Valois and Isabel de Aviz, to Mary Tudor and Maria Manuela - you will find them depicted with pearls as a central part of their appearance in their most famous portraits. It was even said that privateers were given a blind eye in order to bring pearls to Queen Victoria from overseas. 

Pearls made the shift from royalty to the middle class as a result of Mikimoto pioneering cultured pearl making. The slow and very fragile nature of growing these cultured pearls makes for a strong nacre with a high luster. With the return of American soldiers from WWII came an influx of pearls brought home to their loved ones, so if there is an old strand of graduated pearls in your family, it may well be a classic strand originating from the orient. 

Some time later, using the same principle developed by Mikimoto, South sea pearls were created in farms in Tahiti, Australia, the Philippines, and other locations in the South Sea. The difference between these and Mikimoto pearls is that they are formed using larger oysters that produce nacre in a variety of colors. For this reason, the pearls they produce can be golden, peach, or even black/peacock colored. 

These introductions of cultured pearls made pearl ownership much more commonplace, and along with that came the introduction of imitation pearls. This option made pearls into easily accessible fashion jewelry, with varying degrees of quality. Some production methods resulted in excellent caliber imitations, such as Majorca pearls, which are made using fish scale paste over a glass nucleus. This technique creates a luster and weight very similar to its natural counterpart, but at a fraction of the price. 

Though imitation pearls presented a quality option at a much more accessible price point, most of them were phased out when China began to increase their farming of natural pearls. By developing oversized hybrid mollusks, Chinese farms were able to produce multiple pearls in a short period of time; this allowed for pallets of these freshwater cultured pearls to be shipped throughout the world for use in fashion jewelry. These pearls can be identified by their coarse, somewhat powdery texture and their off-round shape. They can be found in a variety of shapes and can be dyed every color of the rainbow.. 

We are fortunate to be living in a time of abundance in regards to pearl options. Today, weenjoy cultured saltwater pearls from both the cold north and the balmy south of Japan; aplethora of freshwater pearls from China; and high quality imitation pearls from trustedcompanies like Swarovski. And of course, there are still the rare pieces designed using naturallyoccurring pearls and melo pearls (naturally formed in the shell of the melo melo snail, andextremely unique in color and luster.) Whichever option you select, you’ll know that your pearlsare part of a fashion fixation that spans across the ages.