eighteen
to fifty-two and three-quarter grains each, the latter being the
largest central pearl. The combined weight of the pearls is 979-3/4
grains and the value is given at $400,000.
A
very beautiful and nearly perfect pear-shaped pearl was found on the
north-east coast of Australia in the seventies. It weighed 159 grains.
There is a pearl about the size of a pigeon's egg in the French crown
Jewels,valued at $8,000. Many fine pearls, especially black or colored,
have been found on the Mexican coast during the last twenty-five years,
among them a black pearl of 162 grains and another of 108 grains, a
white pear shape weighing 176 grains, an oval of 128 grains, and three
weighing 300 grains, 180 grains and 372 grains respectively, the first
two being found in the same year.
In
the World's Fair in Paris, 1889, seven black pearls from this district,
valued at $22,000 were exhibited. These and others are described in
"Gems and Precious Stones" by Kunz. No fresh-water pearl has attained
an equal notoriety with the Queen pearl found at Notch Brook near
Paterson, New Jersey, in 1857. It
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