Antique Natural Pearl Strand

141 graduated natural sea-water pearls, measuring approximately 2 to 5 mm, increasing gently toward the centre and finished by an 18ct white gold clasp pavé-set with rose-cut diamonds. The pearls read as white with a slight cream tone. The effect is intimate, refined and unmistakably old-world: a necklace that sits close to the neck with a soft, living lustre rather than a hard, metallic glitter.

What elevates this decisively is the pearl identity. The accompanying LFG laboratory report identifies the pearls as natural sea-water pearls, round to rounded, white slightly cream, with good to very good lustre and no indication of treatment. Natural pearls are extraordinarily scarce: until the 1950s the Arabian Gulf supplied the great majority of them, and before cultured production was perfected in the 1920s, matched natural pearls could equal or even exceed diamonds in value. This is not simply an antique-style strand. It belongs to a much rarer category.