black
or greenish black being especially prominent. But the fashion, and
thus, necessarily, the demand, had always been for white and yellow
pearls ; consequently, these black ones were of little value in the
markets until about ten years later, when they became fashionable in
Europe largely through their popularity with Empress Eugénie of France,
then at the height of her power. To this queen, pearls owe much of
their high rank in fashion in the nineteenth century; and on her head
they were royal gems royally worn, as appears from Winter-halter's
portrait of her, showing her magnificent necklace.
The
discovery of the resources on the Australian coast about 1865, and the
development of the fishery there for mother-of-pearl, resulted in many
large white pearls coming from that coast. The search was confined to
the relatively shoal waters, until the introduction of diving-suits
about 1880. The use of these facilitated a considerable extension of
the fisheries not only on the Australian coast, but also in Mexico, the
Malay Archipelago, several of the South Sea islands, and some minor
localities.
In
America, few jewels were worn previous to the Civil War, owing to the
absence of great wealth and to the simplicity of taste in personal
decorations. The rapid increase in wealth and luxury, on the
termination of that war, resulted in a great demand for gems, and the
most brilliant and showy ones were selected, especially diamonds. This
demand was the more readily supplied by the discovery of the South
African mines, with their great yield from 1870 to the present time. So
popular did that gem become that many a young man invested his first
earnings in a "brilliant," and an enormous diamond in the shirt-front
became the caricatured emblem of a prosperous hotel clerk.
But
in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, in Europe, as well as in
America and elsewhere where gems are worn, luxury found in pearls a
refinement, associated with richness and beauty, exceeding that of
diamonds and other crystal gems, and in the last few years they have
taken the highest rank among jewels. This change in fashion and the
increase in wealth among the people developed vastly greater demands
and consequently very much higher prices. These have resulted in
greatly extending the field of search, and during the last two or three
decades many new territories have been brought into production.
By
far the most important of these new regions is the Mississippi Valley
in America, the pearl resources of which were made known about a score
of years ago. As the exploitation developed, the gems from these
streams added very largely to the supply, especially of the baroque or
irregular pearls, which have increased greatly in fashion in the last
ten years.
