Graduated Natural Pearl Strand

Composed of 150 graduated sea-water pearls, gently tapering from approximately 2.3 to 6.1 mm, with a soft, living lustre rather than a hard, metallic glitter. The accompanying LFG report describes their lustre as good to very good, with no indication of treatment. The 750 white gold clasp, accented with baguette-cut diamonds and secured with a safety chain, gives the necklace crisp architectural punctuation at the back.

Natural saltwater pearls are extraordinarily scarce. GIA notes that natural pearls are extremely rare, and that until the 1950s the Arabian Gulf supplied the great majority of them. Before culturing of round pearls was perfected in the 1920s, matched natural pearls could equal or even exceed diamonds in value. This necklace belongs to that older, far rarer history of pearls before cultured production changed the market forever. The baguette diamond clasp — those clean, geometric diamonds introduced in their modern form in the Art Deco period — brings a cool, precise note to the softness of the pearls without fighting them.