In French, and in other languages, everything, all objects, are gendered: a table is a girl, a sidewalk s masculine: la table, le trottoir..
In our culture, though, we don't have these distinctions- everything is supposedly unisex and liberated. Except pearls. Somehow pearls are thought feminine: Our industry is trying very hard to put a black pearl on a buff male model and call it a go- but my guy is not buying it. Is yours? Maybe later.
However, sometimes I go deep into enemy territory to find out what it is they are thinking about these days. So I read this month's Scientific American cover to cover and had the surprise of my life: After all the articles on robots and supernovas, there was one on viral nano electronics.
Nanotechnology, as you may know, is part of Material Science, the study of how really tiny amounts of various elements behave completely differently from what we expect, and if we can get them tiny enough, they can be very helpful in many ways. This article, no surprise, had to do with work being done at MIT. Deep in boy's territory, so to speak.
But what set me atingle was that suddenly I caught the word "pearl! Somebody at MIT asked "Why not get an abalone to make things for us?" This marine snail makes an extremely strong shell from unpromising minerals. We would like to know how,.scientists have said for years.
This particular scientist "put a thin glass slip between the abalone and its shell", then removed it".We got a flat pearl" she says," which we could use to study shell formation on an hour-by-hour basis, without having to sacrifice the animal." The work earned a PH.D from the University of California in 1997 and led to a professorship at MIT, founding a start-up company in California, and - get this- the author is now a consultant for a number of companies in the pearl industry.
And what was the scientist's name? Angela Belcher. Yes- Professor Belcher is a female, thus putting paid to my stereotypes. My bad. I definitely plan to invite her to speak at The Pearl Society..
But why do I talk about abalone and their pearls? Is this a mainstream pearl that everyone should know about? No, although they are slowly emerging, now that Imperial Pearl has taken on the agency for the New Zealand producer Eyris pearls. It occurs to me that the greater story is that of the major shift that has taken place in the entire jewelry industry, and in the entire world: greater and greater access of information has led to an appetite for diversity.
Instead of one color of diamond: white (more or less), the public now knows about, and aspires to purple and blue and green and pink. Instead of Ideal-cut, now it's Hearts on Fire andexican Criss-cut and Leo and hundreds of small brands. In addition to brilliant-cut, we have rose-cut and rondelles and briolettes. And every fashion magazine lately has had articles describing the "newest" colored gems: kyanite and fluorite and prasiolite and sunstone, not to mention newly popular rediscovered friends like morganite and chrysoberyl.
But what was it like before? Let's travel back via the old movies: what jewelry would Doris Day have worn? Yellow gold without any doubt, probably the U.S.industry's standard 14 karat - never mind 18k, or peach gold, or palladium, stainless steel or titanium. Her rings would be set with: diamonds, rubies, sapphires That's it. Maybe opal. Maybe a pearl.
Pearl? What kind of pearl? South Seas? Tahitian? Lake Biwa? Chinese freshwater? Abalone, in fact? You know, and I know- the answer is no- Only one kind existed in the popular mind at the time: and that was the Japanese Akoya. Yes, natural pearls were known, and even rare conch pearls. But once 1929 and the Depression came, these were mostly a memory, eclipsed by the sheer quantity and ubiquity of what the Japanese produced.
It's very interesting: if you survey a group of 65 to 75-year old consumers about pearls, nearly all will be thinking of Akoyas; among 20 to 35-year-old, most will talk about freshwaters; while the 35 to 60's dream of South Seas, Black, white and golden, but wear, in fact all kinds: their Mom's Akoyas, their own freshwaters, and are open to whatever pearl novelty they are shown.We are no longer impressed by rules of correctness : no wearing white after Labor Day, wear matching hat and gloves, and surely " no diamonds in the daytime!" Where did that go?
When you go see "The Queen", it's really a wonderful, very realistic and resembling portrayal of Queen Elizabeth. You can't help seeing how she wears her pearls as her armor: the minute she has to go on public display, on go the pearls. And when she is away where she can relax, at Balmoral , way off in Scotland, on go the wellies- her rain boots, the raincoat, the scarf. OK, she wears a Hermes scarf even in the rain. She actually blows her nose in it- watch for that scene! No pearls.
I just read that suddenly everyone who saw the movie is trying to find out where to get those country clothes. There is a run on that coat and boots. But there is no sudden groundswell of excitement about the triple strand of fine pearls and the big brooch. Maybe there will be. But it will never go back to being a uniform, as it is for the poor repressed, caged Queen, and it was for her ancestors.
What do we crave now?
We crave BIG: South Seas, of course, but also Chinese, 15mm if possible.
We crave COLOR: multicolor strands, a true "necklace of globalization": White Australian or Indonesian; Black, grey,green Tahitian; golden Burmese, Philippines, or orange Chinese; deep rose and purple Japanese Kazumiga; even bronze Mexican Baja pearls, all within the same strand! To get the color, we won't balk at buying dyed pearls.
We crave SHAPE: fireball pearls, also known as rose petals, bird of paradise pearls, chevron pearl drilling, petal leis, large South Seas baroques, Keshis small and large, but preferably large.
We crave VERSATILITY: Removable drops, clasps to be worn front, side and back, variable lengths, long strands to swag over the back (again), pearls that can be casual with jeans or dressy.
What does not work for now: Mabes, for one, along with big earrings, have not returned. We need a fresh look at them- someone with imagination to tell us what to do.
Stickpins, which seem such a good way to highlight one special pearl, won't work until more formal suit jackets return. Pearl rings somehow are not moving much in a world where women need to reach for their car keys, tote the kids and do Ashtanga yoga.
Triple-strand bracelets are to formal for daily wear. One strand's fine, two are are even better (somehow, more casual than one), three, and you're out of luck. What to do if you like your clasp but want to be 'in'? Restring with mixed types, sizes or colors: the same bracelet will look way cool!
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