Pear-shaped
pearls were used in Rome for pendant purposes as now and were known as
"elenchi." After the Roman fashion of "cro-talia" or "Castanet"
eardrops had passed, drop pearls continued in more or less favor
throughÂout succeeding centuries as eardrops, the matchÂing of one
nearly doubling the value of both. Of late, egg and pear-shaped pearls
have been used largely as heads for scarf pins. They are drilled and
set on a gold wire or "pegged" as it is called, in the manner described
for pendants but with the smaller end resting upon a light gold ring
soldered to the scarf pin, or in a small cup, so that the pressure,
while inserting the pin, is distributed over the body of the pearl and
upon the end, instead of upon the inner wall in contact with the end of
the pin.
The
Persians used pearls largely in the jewelling of royal headgear, for
Pompey is said to have brought home twenty crowns of pearls with the
loot from his eastern raid. Hindu princes strung them on straight wires
of equal length and bound a number of them together, to be fastened as
pompons or aigrettes, to their turbans. They encrusted and edged their
robes
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