coronation
crown, the latter wore many of her richest and most beautiful jewels.
These consisted of seven immense rows of pearls, each twenty-four to
thirty inches in length, hanging below five large neck circlets of
diamonds and a great corsage ornament which covered her entire bodice
; and beneath part of this was a splendid ornament of diamonds with
large, pear-shaped pearls.
A
careful study of the decorations conferred by potentates and
governments shows that the pearl is rarely used in the ornamentation
of these marks of distinction. A notable exception is that given by the
Siamese government. This decoration is known as the nine-jewel Siamese
decoration, and bears a large center pearl. It is only conferred on
nine members of the royal Siamese family, including his Majesty the
King of Siam. The central pearl represents the king and the eight other
jewels surrounding it the members of his family. It is strange that
Siam should find so much significance in white, as is illustrated by
the white elephant, and also by the use of the white pearl for this
order.
The
Order of Christ, the chief Portuguese order, has a long cross enameled
in bright red surcharged with a white cross and bordered with fine
pearls. The effect is both striking and beautiful.
The
order of the crown of India is a jeweled badge with a device composed
of the imperial cipher, E. R. and I., in diamonds, pearls, and
turquoises, set within a border of pearls and surmounted by the
imperial crown.1
A
remarkable pearl necklace was recently the subject of litigation in
England. It was the property of the late Duchess of Sermonata, an
Englishwoman who married an Italian. She was a daughter of the late
Lord Howard de Waiden, one of the wealthiest of the English nobility.
The duchess was in the habit of investing all her spare cash in pearls,
and it seems that she chose a very good form of investment, since
pearls have increased in value to a greater extent even than diamonds
during the same period. Of the ten rows of which this necklace
consisted, six were deposited for safekeeping in a London bank and the
other four were in Florence at the time of the death of the duchess.
She had bequeathed the gems at the bank to her niece, Miss Henrietta
Ellis, and had left directions that, if her pearl necklace was in
London when she died, it should be sent to her Italian executors. All
the jewels are now claimed by these executors, while Miss Ellis
contends that it was the intention of the duchess to leave to her the
pearls in the hands of the London bankers. The necklace consisted at
one time of ten rows ; the first, thirteen and a half inches long,
comprised forty-one pearls ; the second, fourteen inches in length,
thirty-
1 "Illustrated London News," April 13,1878, p. 347.
