quently
change color from this cause ; but contact with the skin, or with lace,
or with fabrics which are not stained with certain chemical solutions,
seems to have no injurious effect upon pearls.
It
is quite possible that in some instances where pearls which have been
inherited are thought to have changed and lost their beauty, this
belief has been owing to an exaggerated opinion of their quality on the
part of those who expected to inherit them and who never had the
opportunity to examine them carefully. In other words, in many cases
where pearls are believed to have lost their luster, to have died, or
partly died, there seems, from the personal observation of the writer,
to be little doubt that they never were really fine pearls, and that no
change had actually taken place in them. That pearls change but
slightly is evidenced by the fact that a splendid necklace belonging to
the Empress Eugénie, which was purchased about the year i860, is in as
good condition to-day as when it first passed into the hands of the
unfortunate empress of the Second Empire. Many of the pearls in the
royal treasury in Vienna that belonged to Maria Theresa, and those that
were disposed of at the sale of the French crown jewels in 1886, as
well as the pearls that are in the imperial collection at St.
Petersburg, do not seem to show any appreciable evidence of age.
The
pearl is of a lower hardness than any of the precious or semiprecious
stones, and almost as soft as malachite, though not so friable or
liable to break as is that mineral ; nevertheless, it is in many ways
one of the most indestructible of natural objects of the low hardness.
Still, pearls, and especially fine pearls, require some care ; but, if
the same attention is accorded them as would be given to a fine piece
of lace, velvet, or other fabric, or to a fine jewel, they will last
for a number of generations. If, however, pearls are worn at all times
without removal, if they are worn in the bath, if they are thrown on a
dressing-table, dropped on the floor, or otherwise ill-treated, if they
are worn on dusty automobile rides, in bicycle riding, or during other
gymnastic or violent exercise, it is inevitable that their sides will
rub together and wear one another away. If they are worn in the bath or
in swimming, the silk string which holds them, should it become soaked,
may draw some of the water, accompanied perhaps with dust and
perspiration, through the drill hole into the center of the pearl, and
this is likely to be absorbed in turn by the various layers of the
pearl, in some instances undoubtedly affecting the color, changing it
to a yellow or a gray. It would be well not to wear pearls under the
exceptional conditions above mentioned; and, if they are carefully
wiped at times, so as to remove any perspiration or dust, their color
is not likely to be affected for a long period of time.
