Cleopatra and the Pearls

A pearl necklace in the family safe is probably something adored by everyone and passed on from generation to generation. Pearl has always been the symbol of elegance, purity and wealth, a God given gemstone grown and hidden in a creature from the ocean.

The Egyptian Queen Cleopatra is one of the most fascinating women in our history. The inventor of make-up is also said to have an amazing number of pearl jewellery that worth absolute fortunes in her collection. Back in the days when cultured pearls did not exist, pearls needed to be discovered in the oysters - finding one is like winning a lottery, let alone an actually good one. That is why pearls were historically the most expensive gemstone among all kinds.

Here's a story when queen Cleopatra wagered Marc Antony that she could give the most expensive dinner in history, in order to convince Rome that Egypt possessed a heritage and wealth that put it above conquest. The Roman reclined as the queen sat with an empty plate and a goblet of wine (or vinegar). She crushed one of a pair of large pearl earrings, dissolved it in the liquid, then drank it down. Astonished, Antony declined his dinner—the matching pearl earring—and admitted she had won.

Pliny, the world's first gemmologist, writes in his famous Natural History that the two pearls were worth an estimated 60 million sesterces, or 1,875,000 ounces of fine silver ($9,375,000 with silver at $5/ounce).