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VALUES AND COMMERCE OF PEARLS 321
This,
as is well known, was the cause of the voyages of De Gama and Columbus.
The unexpected result of these voyages—the discovery of a new
continent—ushered in the wonderful period of Spanish and Portuguese
development and their colonization of both the East and the West
Indies; and to this epoch belongs the introduction of American pearls
to the markets of Europe. The gradual decline of the power of Spain and
Portugal—largely owing to bigotry and to the reckless exploitation of
the regions under their control—brings us to the beginning of the
present phase of commercial intercourse in which all the nations of the
civilized world are engaged in varying proportion, according to their
power and aptitude. Never before have the different regions of the
earth been more closely in touch with each other, and we may safely say
that nothing is likely to occur which can permanently interrupt the
progressive development of the world's commerce.
With
the various means of transportation and locomotion that have existed in
the past twenty-three or twenty-four centuries, there is no doubt that
the commerce of pearls has varied more or less, but there has ever
been, in some part of the world, a great potentate, a great collector
or dealer who has influenced the finest gems to gravitate his way.
Never has there been a time when some person was not prepared to
encourage—and to richly encourage—the sale of fine jewels to him. The
history of the commerce of precious stones is a history of travel and
exploration, of hardship, pleasure, reward, and sometimes of serious
disappointment.
The
lesson we derive from these decorative objects of natural beauty and
softness—treasured alike by savage, barbarian, ancient warrior,
statesman, king, emperor, peasant, bourgeois, magyar, lady, and
queen—always carries with it the moral that the gifts of creation are
ever prized by some one in every age or place.
The
necessary qualifications affecting the value of a pearl are: first,
that it should be perfectly round, pear-shaped, drop-shaped,
egg-shaped, or button-shaped, and as even in form as though it were
turned on a lathe. It must have a perfectly clear skin, and a decided
color or tint, whether white, pink, creamy, gray, brown or black. If
white, it must not have a cloud or a blur or haze, nor should the skin
have the slightest appearance of being opaque or dead. It must be
absolutely free from all cracks, scratches, spots, flaws,
indentations, shadowy reflections or blemishes of any kind. It must
possess the peculiar luster or orient characteristic of the gem. The
skin must be unbroken, and not show any evidence of having been
polished.
Diamonds and the more valuable precious stones generally are
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