Origin of name
The "Imperial Hong Kong Pearl" also known as the "Miracle of the Sea" is
believed to have been owned at one time by Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi (Cixi),
the widow of Emperor Xianfeng, who became the de facto ruler of the Manchu
Qing Dynasty after her husband's death in 1861, and ruled China for 48
years, until her death in 1908. After Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi's death, an
enormous pearl, the size of a robin's egg, was placed in her mouth, in
keeping with Chinese imperial custom, to protect the corpse from
decomposition. Her coffin was then filled with pearls, diamonds and other
precious jewels, and placed in a tomb, amidst the Eastern Qing Tombs, a
lavish grandiose complex of temples, gates and pavilions, covered with gold
leaf, and with ornaments made of gold and gilded-bronze, hanging from the
beams and eaves. The tomb was constructed by the Empress herself, during her
period of rule, in 1895. It is not known whether the "Imperial Hong Kong
Pearl" was among the large quantities of precious stones and jewelry placed
in her coffin.
However, in July 1928, Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi's tomb was desecrated
and all its precious ornaments plundered, including the massive pearl placed
in her mouth, by the Kuomintang General Sun Dianying and his army. Most of
the plundered jewels eventually found their way to Hong Kong, which became a
dependant territory of the United Kingdom in 1842, and subsequently a free
port and entrepot of the the British Empire. The jewels, that were
purchased by western companies based in Hong Kong, eventually ended up in
the Western countries. It is not known exactly how the "Imperial Hong Kong
Pearl" reached the British colony of Hong Kong, but it is known for certain
that the enormous pearl was purchased in Hong Kong by the renowned United States based company
dealing in pearls,
"Imperial Pearl Syndicate" in the 1940s. Thus the name "Imperial
Hong Kong Pearl" seems to be a reflection of both the name of the company,
"Imperial Pearl Syndicate," as well as the country where the pearl was
purchased. Perhaps, the name may also signify the imperial provenance of the
renowned pearl, being owned at one time by one of the most powerful
empresses in Chinese history, Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi.
Characteristics of the Pearl
The "Imperial Hong Kong Pearl" aka the "Miracle of the Sea" is an enormous
silvery white, baroque pearl with an irregular drop-shape and having
dimensions of 26 x 39 mm, and a weight of 25.5 grams, equivalent to 127.5
carats or 510.0 grains. It is one of the largest nacreous pearls discovered
in the world, believed to have originated in a saltwater oyster species,
known as Pinctada maxima, common in the South Seas between Southern China and
Northern Australia.
The Shape of the Pearl
Pearls exist in nature broadly in eight basic shapes. They are round,
semi-round, button, drop, pear, oval, baroque and ringed. A baroque pearl is
an irregularly or oddly shaped pearl. The "Imperial Hong Kong Pearl" is
undoubtedly an irregular baroque pearl, but has an almost elongated drop
shape, and hence can be described as an irregular drop-shaped pearl.
In pearls that grow in the soft tissues of the oyster, the expanding pearl
sac grows regularly, as it encounters no appreciable resistance. This
results in regular shapes such as round (spherical) or semi-round shapes.
However, pearl sacs can also be lodged in muscular tissues, where the
expanding pearl sac may find it difficult to overcome the resistance of
tough muscle fibers, resulting in irregular or unusual shapes.
Jewelers of the Renaissance period from the late 16th to 17th centuries,
valued baroque pearls very highly, as they regarded them as flexible pieces
of gemstones, with unique shapes and unexpected colors, that could be
incorporated easily into versatile jewelry designs, borne out of the fertile
imagination of the jewelry designers and craftsmen. One such unique piece of
jewelry is the "Canning Jewel," exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum,
London, a 16th century Renaissance jewel, in which a large baroque
pearl is incorporated as the torso of a sea creature, having the body of a
man and the tail of a fish, the whole setting, mounted in enameled gold, set
with pearls, rubies and diamonds. Another creation of this period is the
"Swan Pendant" exhibited in the State Hermitage Museum, at St. Petersburg,
created in Netherlands in the 1590s, incorporating a large baroque pearl as
the body of the swan. and set with enameled gold, pearl, diamonds and
rubies.
The present setting of the "Imperial Hong
Kong Pearl"
According to jewelry historians, Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi had a special
fondness for pearls in life, and wore the small egg-sized "Imperial
Hong Kong Pearl" as a good luck amulet, on a slender chain around her neck.
Today, the "Imperial Hong Kong Pearl" is set in a platinum and diamond
pendant, in which the irregular drop-shaped pearl is encrusted at its upper
end with a foliage design made of platinum, the composite design
giving the appearance of a fruit and foliage setting, reminiscent of the
designs of jewelry of the Renaissance period.
© Imperial-Deltah Inc.
The body color of the pearl
The body color of the pearl is the hue, intensity and saturation of a
pearl's color, caused by pigments and not light interference, as in
iridescence and orient of a pearl. The body color of a pearl are determined
by several factors. These are, species of mollusk, thickness and number of
layers of nacre, conditions of the aquatic environment, including presence
of certain trace elements. Certain body colors are associated with a
particular species of mollusk. Thick nacre is associated with rich body
color, more overtones and iridescence. Certain trace elements impart color
to pigments associated with body color.
The body color of pearls like that of external shells of mollusks, may be
caused by true pigments or biochromes. Some pigments that cause colors in
shells are yellow carotenoids, black melanins, green porphyrins, and blue
and red indigoids. Some pigments like beta-carotene and chlorophyll that are
ingested by mollusks as part of their diet, may also contribute to the color
of shells. Special glandular cells in the mantle secrete the color
pigment with the fluid calcite and aragonite during shell and nacre
formation. The pigment bonds with the conchiolin, a protein that helps to
glue together layers of calcite and aragonite, like the mortar in a brick
wall. It has been estimated that in a segment of shell or nacre about 0.1 cm
thick, there exists about 500 to 5,000 alternating layers of calcium
carbonate (calcite and aragonite) and conchiolin.
White pearls like the Imperial Hong Kong Pearl, and cream colored pearls,
acquire their color, when the conchiolin is free of any bonded pigments, so
that being transparent the white or cream color of the aragonite shows
through. The silvery white color may be caused by iridescence, a slight play
of color over the surface of a pearl, caused by the interference of light,
as it passes through the alternating layers of aragonite/calcite and
conchiolin.
History of the Pearl
Source of the Pearl
The "Imperial Hong Kong Pearl" is believed to have originated in the
saltwater pearl Pinctada maxima, a species of pearl oyster found in
the South Sea, off the southern coast of China. The South Sea is the sea
between the southern coast of China and the northern coast of Australia,
that connects the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. The Indonesian
archipelago, Malaysia, Philippines, and Papua New Guinea are situated within
this sea. The waters of the South Sea is the natural habitat of the large
pearl oyster known as Pinctada maxima. These oysters can grow up to a
maximum size of 12 inches (30 cm), and today has become one of the
pearl oysters around which a major cultured pearl industry has developed, in
countries with access to this sea, such as China, Australia, Indonesia,
Myanmar, Philippines and Papua New Guinea.
The environmental conditions of the South Sea, such as its clean waters and
the abundant availability of plankton (singled celled floating algae), that
constitute the favorite food source of Pinctada maxima, are very conducive
to the successful growth and multiplication of the Pinctada maxima pearl
oyster, as well as the rapid production of nacre in the formation of the
pearl. The warm waters of the sea also speeds up the oyster's metabolism,
enhancing the speed of nacre production. South Sea pearls are characterized
by their large size, ranging from 9-20 mm, unusually thick nacre varying
from 2-6 mm, their unique satin-like luster and their subtle array of
colors, such as white, cream, pink, silver and gold. There are two varieties of Pinctada maxima that produce pearls - the silver-lipped and gold lipped
oyster, distinguished by the distinct coloration of the outer edge of the
mantle.
The South Sea Pearl, Pinctada maxima
The "Imperial Hong Kong Pearl," in spite of its unusual size with dimensions
of 26 x 39 mm, could have been easily accommodated in the mantle or gonad of
the Pinctada maxima oyster, as it could have grown to a maximum size of 30
cm (300 mm), in diameter, the size of a dinner plate. The oyster is reputed
to be the largest naturally occurring pearl oyster in the world, as well as
the largest commercially harvested cultured pearl oyster in the world.
Pinctada maxima
©
PEARL AQUACULTURE RESEARCH FOUNDATION
Pearls produce by cultured South Sea pearls are also among the largest
cultured pearls produced in the world, ranging in size from 9-20 mm, and an
average size of around 13 mm. Among the reasons adduced for the growth of
such large pearls are :- 1) the large size of the oyster 2) the large size
of the implanted bead 3) the conducive environment in which the oyster grows
4) the long growth period of the oyster. The larger size of the oyster
enables the growth of a larger pearl, as well the acceptance of a larger
bead. Besides the presence of a larger gonad, where the bead is usually
implanted, enables a faster deposition of nacre around the nucleus, in
the warm conditions of the sea, that enhances the metabolism of the oyster.
South Sea pearls are harvested only after a minimum period of two years,
which allows the pearls to grow to a much larger size.
The Imperial Hong Kong Pearl enters the court
of Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi
It is not known exactly when the "Imperial Hong Kong Pearl" aka the "Miracle
of the Sea" was discovered from the South Sea off the southern coast of
China, but it is well known that the enormous pearl became the valued
possession of the Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi, who was renowned for her love of
pearls. The pearl was probably given to her as a gift by her husband Emperor
Xianfeng, who elevated her to the very high status of "Noble Imperial
Consort Yi," a rank which was only second in status to the
Empress Consort Ci'an, the principal wife of the Emperor; and showered her
with gifts, as an act of recognition, for giving him his only male heir, the
future Emperor of China, in the year 1856. It might also be possible that
the Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi acquired the pearl, after she assumed control
as the de facto ruler of the Manchu Qing dynasty, after her husband's death
in 1861, a position which she held for 48 years until her death in 1908. The
Empress Dowager is said to have worn the "Imperial Hong Kong Pearl" as a
good luck amulet on a slender chain around her neck. Photographs and
paintings of the empress show her wearing beaded pearl chains, not only as
necklaces but also as adornments on her royal robes.
Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi - A short biography
Tz'u-Hsi
becomes a concubine to Emperor Xianfeng
Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi (Cixi) was the daughter of a low ranking Manchu
official named Huizheng of the Manchu Yehenara clan, and was born in the
year 1835, and spent most of her early life in the Anhui province of China,
before moving to Beijing between her 3rd and 15th birthdays. In the year
1851, at the age of 16 years, she was subjected to a process of screening
with other Manchu girls, to be selected as a possible concubine for the new
Emperor Xianfeng, and was lucky enough to be chosen for this prestigious
position. After entering the emperor's harem, Cixi became pregnant in 1855
and gave birth to her son, Tongzhi, the only male heir of Emperor Xianfeng,
an event that delighted the Emperor, and elevated Cixi to the status of a
"Noble Imperial Consort Yi" a rank only second to the Empress Consort Ci'an,
the principal wife of the Emperor.
The death of Emperor Xianfeng and the
appointment of a regency council
On August 22, 1861, Emperor Xiangfeng died at Rehe Palace, in the City of
Rehe, in Manchuria, where he had sought refuge in September 1860, following
the onslaught of British and French troops, who attacked Beijing and burned
down the Imperial Summer Palace Complex of the emperors of the Qing dynasty, in
retaliation for the arrest of the British Diplomat Harry Parkes, and
the torture and execution of a number of western hostages. Before his death
however, Emperor Xianfeng had appointed an eight-member Regency Council,
consisting of trusted ministers, to administer the affairs of the state,
until his son and heir who was only 5 years old, attained maturity and
ascended the throne of China. This arrangement was necessary as Qing
imperial tradition totally excluded women from politics. The two senior most wives of the Emperor,
Empress Consort Ci'an, aged 25 and Noble Imperial Consort Yi, aged 27, were
then elevated to the status of Empress Dowager Ci'an and Empress Dowager
Tz'u-Hsi (Cixi) respectively.
Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi stages a palace
coup
Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi who was an ambitious and determined woman, was not
happy about the arrangements made for Emperor Xianfeng's succession, and
being the future Emperor's mother was very bitter about being excluded from
the circles of power. In consultation with the co-Empress Dowager Ci'an, she
sought the assistance of princes, ministers and soldiers, who too had been
excluded from power, and who were ignored or hated by the eight regent
ministers, and staged a palace coup, that ousted the Regency Council, and
resulted in the execution of three of the regent ministers, and the two
Empress Dowagers being recognized as co-regents to the future Emperor, the
real power "behind the curtains" being exercised by Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi
herself.
Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi's services to
China as co-regent to the young Emperor Tonghzi
After assuming absolute power "behind the curtains" Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi
appointed her principal ally in the coup, the Prince Gong Yixin as Head of
the General Affairs Office and the Internal Affairs Office and the Chief
Policy Advisor at court. The first important imperial edict she issued on
behalf of the Emperor, stated that the two Empresses Dowager were to be the
sole decision makers in the future, without any interference from any
quarters. She then took on the important task of overhauling the
bureaucratic machinery of the state, to root out rampant corruption and
mismanagement that had plagued the Chinese State for a long period. She
ordered the execution of two prominent officials on charges of bribery and
dereliction of duty, to serve as an example to other government
administrators. She also took the courageous step of breaking the Manchu
dominance in holding major positions at court, and powerful military and
administrative positions in the capital and the provinces. She appointed Han
Chinese as governors of all southern Chinese provinces, and also appointed a
Han Chinese General, Zeng Guofan as commander of the most powerful military
unit, the Xiang Army, to fight against the Taiping rebels who were causing
devastation in the south of the country. Zeng Guofan successfully defeated
the Taiping rebels and helped to restore the authority of the monarchy. She
was also the first Chinese ruler in the history of Imperial China, to
realize the importance of acquiring western knowledge and technology in
modernizing the economy of China, opening the country to western education,
hiring foreign teachers, and introducing science, mathematics, and foreign
languages such as English, French and Russian in educational institutions.
She also sent young Chinese students abroad for studies, especially in the
United States. She is also credited with the construction of the first
Chinese railway.
Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi's firm grip on
power
Empress Dowager always held a firm grip on power, exercising constant
vigilance and eliminating any threats to her power. He subdued her popular
Chief Policy Adviser, Yixin the Prince Gong, by removing him from his post
based on false allegations, but later re-instating him under popular
pressure, only as head of he Foreign Ministry, but ridding him of the title
of Chief Policy Adviser. He never returned to political prominence again.
She was also alarmed by the liberal thinking of people who had studied
abroad, and imposed a ban on sending children abroad on scholarships, lest
they pose a threat to her hold on power.
Marriage of Emperor Tonghzi, his ascension
to the throne and his death
In the year 1872, her son and heir to the throne Emperor Tonghzi, who had
just turned 17, was married to Lady Jiashun Alute, and subsequently was also
given the services of four imperial consorts and concubines. The Empress
Dowager also took a keen interest in giving the best education to her son,
hiring the best teachers, to prepare him for his future task of ruling the
country. However, the pressure and stress placed on the young Emperor, made
him hate learning, and he sought relief from the stress of palace life, by
sneaking out of the palace incognito and spending the nights in the brothels
of Beijing. Eventually when he assumed control as the Emperor of China, in
1873 at the age of 18 years, he proved to be an incompetent ruler. He tried
in vain to exert his authority as Emperor, but was thwarted by the Empresses
Dowager who did not agree to the removal of some loyal officers of the
state. The young Emperor's rule was however short-lived, as he died of small
pox in January 1875. Following her son's death Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi,
took back absolute control of state power again.
Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi becomes the
absolute ruler of China again. Emperor Guangxu is chosen as successor to
Emperor Tonghzi
Following Tonghzi's death the four-year old son of the first Prince Chun
Yixuan and Tz'u-Hsi's sister, was chosen as successor to the throne of
China, and was given the name Emperor Guangxu. In April 1881, the co-Empress
Dowager Ci'an died suddenly and Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi became the only
Empress regent and the absolute ruler of China. After the Sino-French War
which resulted in China's defeat, she got rid of Prince Gong and other
important decision makers in the Grand Council. She then appointed Prince
Chun Yixuan, Emperor Guangxu's father as the commander of the Navy. It was
Prince Chun who took the initiative to reconstruct and furnish the Summer
Palace destroyed by the Anglo-French forces during the second opium war, as
a future place of retirement for the Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi.
Emperor Guangxu ascends the throne of
China and attempts to introduce a constitutional monarchy on the
British and Japanese models
Empress dowager Tzu'Hsi forced the Emperor Guangxu to marry Jingfen her
niece, against his will, to become the Empress consort. In 1890, at the age
of 19, Emperor Guangxu was finally given the right to rule, but even after
he ascended the throne, Emperor Guangxu would seek the advice of Empress
Tz'u-Hsi before making important political decisions. In the year 1894,
Emperor Guangxu took China to a disastrous war with Japan, that led to an
embarrassing defeat, and the crushing of the Chinese naval power. Following
this defeat, Emperor Guangxu faced several internal as well as external
challenges to his rule, which threatened the very survival of the monarchy,
and the Emperor decided that the best option to save the monarchy would be
to adopt the Japanese or British model of a constitutional monarchy, and
initiated a series of reforms, that came to be known as the "Hundred Days
Reform." He introduced several sweeping political, legal as well as social
changes, and issued edicts for a number of far-reaching reforms.
Emperor Guangxu is ousted by a palace coup
engineered by Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi
The unprecedented reforms introduced by the Emperor did not meet with the
approval of the Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi, who was supposed to have gone on
retirement. Some government and military officials too did not approve of
the reforms and warned the Empress about the consequences. The Empress
Dowager Tz'u-Hsi immediately swung into action, and in the year 1898,
ordered the arrest and confinement of the Emperor in an isolated palace
known as the Ocean Terrace, situated on an island in the Taiye lake adjacent
to the Forbidden City. Allegations of treason, suspected Japanese influence
on the reforms etc. were given as reasons, by the Empress Dowager for her
intervention, which was portrayed as an attempt to save the nation from
foreign influence. However due to increased western pressure. and the
resentment generated in the nation over the unpopular move, the Empress
stopped short of the forceful abdication of the Emperor, and the Guangxu era
continued in name for the next ten years, until 1908, with the Empress once
again wielding absolute power.
Allied forces invade China to crush the
anti-Christian and anti-foreign Boxer Rebellion
In 1898, shortly after the deposition of Emperor Guangxu, the so called
"Boxer Rebellion," a violent anti-foreign and anti-Christian uprising, broke
out, whose main slogan was "support the Qing, destroy the foreign." Empress
Dowager supported the uprising wholeheartedly, that resulted in the murder
of large numbers of Catholic missionaries and Chinese Christians, and led to
the besieging of foreign embassies, and eventually to a declaration of war
on foreign powers that had diplomatic missions in Beijing. Diplomats,
foreign civilians and Chinese Christians, took refuge in the diplomatic
quarters, and held out for 55 days, until rescued by 20,000 allied troops of
an eight-nation coalition, that marched on Being and seized the Forbidden
City. Suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of the allied forces, Empress
Dowager Tz'u-Hsi was forced to sign a humiliating treaty. that allowed the
presence of an international military force in China, and the payment of
£67 million as war reparations.
Death of Empress Dowager
Tz'u-Hsi
Empress Dowager Tz'u-hsi who had held absolute power over the Chinese nation
for 48 years, one of the longest in the history of Imperial China, suffered
a stroke in November 1908. The Empress realized her last days were near and
made immediate plans for her succession. She was determined not to allow
Emperor Guangxu to succeed her, lest he would restore the reforms that he
previously initiated. Thus just before her death she engineered her last and
final coup, that eliminated Emperor Guangxu and saw her three-year old
nephew Puyi installed as the new Emperor of the Qing dynasty. The new
Emperor was installed on November 14, 1908, and surprisingly on the same day
Emperor Guangxu also died. The very next day on November 15, 1908, Empress
Dowager Tz'u-Hsi also breathed her last, to the astonishment of the greatest
and most populated nation on earth. The determined Empress had indeed
succeeded in the execution of her last and final coup !!! Empress Tz'u-Hsi's
final words as muttered by her in her dying moments are indeed more
astounding "Never again allow a woman to hold supreme power in the State
!!!"
Forensic tests confirm the death of
Emperor Guangxu by arsenic poisoning
The whole nation suspected foul play because of the closeness of the deaths
of Emperor Guangxu and the Empress Dowager. This suspicion remained a fact
of history for one hundred years until the current year 2008, when on
November 4th, results of the forensic tests conducted by scientists
confirmed that the death of Emperor Guangxu was caused by acute
arsenic poisoning, as reported by the China Daily newspaper. According to
the results of the forensic tests as reported by CNN, the level of arsenic
in the Emperor's remains was 2,000 times higher than that of a normal human
being! Thus it is now firmly established that the Empress Dowager poisoned
Emperor Guangxu as part of a master plot to eliminate the Emperor and
install her three-year old nephew Puyi as the successor.
Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi's enormous
jewelry collection
The Empress who wielded absolute state power for almost half a century, also
used her power to surround herself with all the luxuries of life, that
included the lavish summer palace, an expensive wardrobe, an enormous
collection of jewels and other adornments; luxuries that were sometimes
acquired at the expense of more pressing needs. She was also a lover of
pearls and pearl jewelry, and always wore pearl necklaces for formal
occasions. The "Imperial Hong Kong Pearl" was also part of her enormous
jewel collection. At the time of her death, her jewelry vault held 3,000
ebony boxes full of her everyday jewels. After her death, the Empress was
buried in splendor in her own tomb built by her during her lifetime, her
coffin filled with diamonds, pearls, and other jewels, including an enormous
pearl placed in her mouth in keeping with Imperial Chinese custom, to
protect the corpse from decomposition.
Among the other luxuries the Empress was engaged in, was the holding of
frequent lavish banquets. It is said that at a single banquet sometimes she
was served with 150 different dishes. She also drank from a jade cup and ate
with golden chopsticks.
Desecration of Empress Dowager's tomb in
1928, and subsequent restoration by the People's Republic of China
In July 1928, Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi's tomb was occupied by the war lord
and Kuomintang general Sun Dyanying and his army. The revolutionary soldiers
stripped the complex of its precious gold ornaments. They then dynamited the
entrance to the burial chamber, and opened the Empress Dowager
Tz'u-Hsi's coffin. They threw her well preserved corpse on the floor and
kicked it around and
stole all the jewels found in the coffin, including the massive pearl placed
in her mouth, that was insultingly retrieved from her corpse. The
desecration caused to her corpse and the tomb was unprecedented in the
history of China. It is also said that a large pearl mounted on
Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi's crown, was later gifted to Kuomintang leader
Chiang Kai-shek by Sun Dyanying. Unconfirmed stories say that the pearl
finally ended up as an ornament on the shoes of Chiang's wife, Soong
May-Ling. The desecrated tomb of the Empress Dowager remained in a neglected
state until 1949, when the Communist Party of China captured power. The tomb
was then restored by the Government of the People's Republic of China, and
today remains one of the most impressive imperial tombs of China. The
decision to restore the tomb of an Imperial monarch of China, by the Communist
Party, was probably inspired by the anti-imperialist and
anti-western foreign policy pursued by the Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi, which
was in line with the policies of the Communist Party of China.
The Imperial Hong Kong Pearl is purchased by
the Imperial Pearl Syndicate
It is not known whether the "Imperial Hong Kong Pearl" was among the jewels
that filled the coffin of the Empress Dowager at the time of her burial, and
later plundered from her grave in 1928. Following Empress Tz'u-Hsi's death
the Qing Dynasty collapsed just three years after in 1811. Thus even if the
"Imperial Hong Kong Pearl" was not buried with the empress, it would perhaps
have fallen into unauthorized hands, during the unsettled period of the
revolution from 1911 to 1913, inspired by the reformist and revolutionary
movements, and the power struggles and civil wars that continued until 1928.
Items of jewelry pilfered during this period eventually ended up in
neighboring Hong Kong, a British colony administered as a free port and
entrepot of the British Empire. The "Imperial Hong Kong Pearl" once owned by
the Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi also reached Hong Kong in the 1940s and was
purchased by the United States based company dealing in pearls, the Imperial
Pearl Syndicate, that was founded by Joseph Goldstone in 1932. Today, the
enormous natural baroque pearl remains one of the valued possessions of the
company.
Joseph Goldstone, the founder of the Imperial
Pearl Syndicate
Popularized cultured Japanese pearls and
pioneered the cultured pearl industry in the U.S.
Mr. Joseph Goldstone who was born in Davenport, Iowa, began his career
in the jewelry trade as a jewelry salesman. In the year 1932, Mr.
Joseph Goldstone together with his brother David Goldstone founded the
company known as "Imperial" which began operations by setting up their first
store in Chicago. The company initially specialized in the import and sale
of Japanese cultured pearls, and was the first to import the much valued Akoya pearls to the United States from Japan. In the year 1941 Joseph
Gladstone named the company "Imperial Pearl Syndicate." The company
subsequently pioneered the development of the cultured pearl industry in the
United States. The popularization of the Japanese cultured pearls by his
company in the United States, gave a big boost to the Japanese cultured
pearl industry. In the 1940s Joseph Goldstone pioneered a unique marketing
strategy to help establish a brand recognition for pearls marketed by
Imperial Pearl Syndicate, by featuring some of Hollywood's most popular
actresses such as Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley Temple, Loretta Young and others
in the advertisements of the company.
Donation of a dress embroidered with
80,000 cultured pearls to the USO
In the early 1940s the Imperial Pearl Syndicate turned out a unique adult
female dress of size 14, embroidered with 80,000 cultured pearls. The
sleeveless floor-length dress had tiny caps over the shoulders, and was
worked out with various sizes of pearls, having a total weight of fifty
pounds (22.7 kg). The dress was created by the company to demonstrate the
versatility and the craftsmanship of the pearl industry. In the year 1942,
Imperial Pearl Syndicate donated the unique creation to the United Service
Organization (USO), to help raise funds for its activities. The USO is a
private non-profit organization that provides morale and recreational
services to members of the U.S. military worldwide, and was founded in the
year 1941, in response to a request from President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The pearl dress was personally handed over by the vice president of the
company David Goldstone, to Mrs. Irving Berlin, a member of the USO's
national women's committee. According to Mrs. Berlin, the dress was to be
shipped to Hollywood for a series of promotional photographs and then
dismantled into eighty packages of 1,000 pearls each. The packages were to
be sent then to all department stores in large cities, and sold under the
auspices of local USO units, at the rate of one dollar each, netting a total
of $80,000 for the benefit of the organization.
Assisting in the re-organization of the
Japanese cultured pearl industry after the second world war
Joseph Goldstone's expertise in the cultured pearl industry was recognized
by the United States government, and in 1947, the U.S. government requested
him to assist in the reorganization of the wrecked cultured pearl industry
in Japan, following the devastation caused by the second world war. He
visited Japan, and working under General Douglas MacArthur's headquarters,
he re-organized the cultured pearl industry in Japan, and helped set up
quality standards, and got a yen-dollar equivalent to enable Japanese pearl
growers to export profitably to the American market. During this period,
Joseph Goldstone, also investigated trade possibilities in the Far East, as
a representative of the Senate's Small Business Committee.
Purchase of "Lot 88" at a public auction
held in 1950
Ever since the cultured pearl industry was established in Japan in the early
20th century, pearl growers began building up collections of matching pearls
in terms of size, shape, color and luster. With the onset of World War II,
the pearl growers pooled their precious collections and entrusted them to
the Bank of Japan for safe keeping. The collection was labeled "lot 88" and
was deposited deep in the subterranean vaults of the bank. Lot 88 remained
safe in the vaults of the bank, during the period of the war and until 1950,
when the Supreme Commander of the Asiatic and Pacific forces ruled that the
lot should be sold by public auction to the highest bidder. Accordingly at
the auction that followed after this ruling, the Imperial Pearl Syndicate of
Chicago, successfully bid for this renowned pearl collection, outbidding all
other competitors. In October 1950, Imperial Pearl Syndicate brought the
collection to their offices in the United States, and offered them for sale
to their US customers.
Creation of a second pearl encrusted gown
in 1952
Again in 1952, Mr. Joseph Goldstone designed and turned out a second dress
encrusted with 10,000 cultured pearls, as a advertising gimmick. The cost of
the dress was estimated at $100,000 at that time. The dress was taken on a
tour of the United States and was exhibited in twenty cities around the
country. Like the 80,000-pearl dress created in 1940 and subsequently
donated to the USO, this dress too generated a lot of advertising for the
company, not only creating a brand recognition for the company but also
popularizing the use of cultured pearls in general. At one of the displays
of the gown, an added boost was given by the appearance of the renowned TV
and screen star Nina Foch, wearing the $100,000 pearl gown. The
80,000-pearl dress created in 1940 served a dual purpose of not only
becoming an advertising sensation projecting the image of the company, but
also achieving one of the objectives of the company in promoting charitable
and humanitarian causes. Likewise the 10,000 cultured pearl creation of
1952, besides serving as an advertising sensation, was finally donated for a
humanitarian purpose, the Damon Runyon Memorial Fund for Cancer Research.
Development of an anesthetic for oysters
that enabled painless introduction of irritant by injection
In the early 1950s Joseph Goldstone in association with other scientists
developed a special anesthetic solution, that anesthetized oysters,
enabling a painless introduction of irritant into the pearl, by injection.
This was a significant discovery as there was a drastic reduction in the
mortality rate of the bivalves after implantation of irritant. The credit
for the development of this solution goes to Imperial pearl Syndicate.
Imperial Pearl Syndicate transforms into
the Imperial-Deltah Inc. managed by the Bazar Group, a leading pearl company
in the world
Under the guidance of Joseph Goldstone and his brother David Goldstone, the
Imperil Pearl Syndicate which was founded in 1932, developed into the
leading jewelry establishment dealing in pearls in the United States by the
early 1950s, with branches in Chicago, Detroit, New York, Los Angeles and
Tokyo, with their products being widely retailed in the United States and
abroad. Mr. Joseph Goldstone, the president and the founder of the Imperial
Pearl Syndicate, died at the age of 64 years on December 14, 1957. Today,
the Imperial Pearl Syndicate founded by Joseph Goldstone, still maintains
its leading position in the pearl jewelry market of the United States,
though the company had changed hands and had merged with another leader in
the pearl jewelry trade, Pearls by Deltah to form the Imperial-Deltah
Inc. one of the world's leading pearl companies, owned and managed by
the Bazar Group.
Related :-
1)
The Hope Pearl
2) Pearl of
Allah/ Pearl of Lao Tzu
3)
Arco Valley Pearl
4)
La Pelegrina Pearl
5)
La Peregrina Pearl
External Links :-
www.pearls.com
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References
1.The Miracle of the Sea - The world's largest pearl -
pearls.com website of Imperial-Deltah Inc.
2.Empress Dowager
Cixi - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
3.Empress Dowager
Cixi - Discovering China, library.thinkquest.org
4.Empress Dowager Cixi -
Answers.com
5.Corporate Timeline - Imperial-Deltah Inc. www.pearls.com
6.Pearl
Grading - Pearl Color Grades -www.khulsey.com
7.CPAA Discussion Forums -
www.pearls.com
8.Pearl - www.geo.utexas.edu
9.Delve
Deep - Pearl Oysters - www.seachestsecret.questacon.edu.au
