Pearl of Peregrine (Pilgrim, Wandering Pearl). Famous gem. The most famous pearls in the world and the fascinating stories associated with them The most legendary large pear-shaped peregrine pearl
At the beginning of the 16th century, after the greatest discovery of Columbus, the Spaniards went to conquer the lands of the New World, to South America. Among the numerous discoveries of the conquistadors were the wonderful islands in the Gulf of Panama, which have unheard of wealth.
Pearl of Peregrine
In 1513, the brave Spanish adventurer Vasco Nunez de Balboa was the first European to reach the Pacific coast. Here he met the Indians with an amazing boat inlaid with amazing pearls.
Of course, the conquistador was interested in such magnificence, and he began to ask the Indians about the source of their wealth. They told Balboa about the islands, off the coast of which they found countless beautiful pearls.
The Spaniard found the islands and gave them the name "Pearl", declaring them, of course, the property of the king of Spain.
Pearl Islands
Black slaves were engaged in the extraction of pearls for the Spanish crown in the Pearl Islands. Once one of them found a real miracle - the largest and most beautiful pearl of all that had previously been known to the world. For such an incredible find, the slave was even granted freedom.
A magnificent pearl in the shape of a pear and weighing 55.95 carats was delivered to the king. Since then, she has received her romantic name - Wandering (or wanderer - La Peregrina in Spanish).
The first owner of Peregrine was the Queen of England - Mary I Tudor.
Mary Tudor Bloody
Mary received the crown of England at the age of 37 and remained in the history of the country as the most "bloody" queen. At home, not a single monument was erected to her, and the day of death and at the same time the day of accession to the throne of her sister Elizabeth I was celebrated as a national holiday.
Mary Tudor Bloody
Meanwhile, Mary Tudor lived a life full of disappointments and sorrows. She was the eldest daughter of King Henry VIII of England and his first wife Catherine of Aragon.
Heinrich lived with Catherine for seven years before they finally had a healthy child, before that all their children were born either dead or died almost immediately after birth. This healthy child was Maria.
For the next 17 years, Henry did not receive a male heir to the throne, and Mary all these years remained the main contender for the English crown.
In 1526, when Mary was 10 years old, the charming Anne Boleyn appeared at the court, who a few years ago excited her father's heart, but did not reciprocate. The king resumed his courtship, but Anna was still impregnable - she was not satisfied with the role of favorite ...
In 1527, the king, who lost his head from passion, decides that his marriage to Catherine of Aragon has exhausted itself, and offers Anna the crown of England instead of the status of favorite.
However, despite Henry's confidence that Catherine will give him a divorce, she does not agree. As a result, the monarch had to break off relations with the Roman Catholic Church. He declared himself to be the main English church and dissolved his previous marriage himself.
Henry VIII
When Mary's father married Anna, she was sent into the service of her stepmother, who hated her. Anna tried in every way to humiliate and insult Mary.
However, Anne Boleyn's reign did not last long. Shortly after the birth of another daughter, Elizabeth, Henry executes his new wife for adultery. In the future, the king often changes wives and Mary's life becomes dependent on what kind of relationship she had with her new stepmothers.
By the time of Henry's death, he had only one son left from all marriages - Edward. In 1547, the king died, and Edward was then only 9 years old. However, it was he who ascended the throne and already in 1553 died of tuberculosis.
When it became clear that the young king would not survive, he was forced to appoint an heir to the crown - his distant relative Jane Gray, and to exclude Henry's legitimate daughters Mary and Elizabeth from the contenders for the throne.
However, the people did not want to recognize Jane, and soon after her coronation, a riot arose. As a result, a month later, the eldest daughter of Henry VIII, Mary I Tudor, ascended the throne.
Jane, a girl of sixteen, went into custody. Mary had to execute her along with her young husband and father-in-law, because she understood that Jane would be a beacon for rebels all her life.
Jane Gray before execution
Then Mary, as a true Catholic, began to fight against the Protestants. Since 1555, mass executions began ... It was for these cruel reprisals that Mary received the nickname "Bloody".
In 1554, the queen married for the first time the heir to the Spanish throne, Philip. After 2 years, Philip becomes the king of Spain, and Mary Tudor the Bloody becomes the Spanish queen. Then she gets the biggest pearl in the world - Peregrine.
Maria began the tradition that all Spanish queens later posed for ceremonial portraits wearing a piece of jewelry that included a wondrous pearl.
Portrait of Mary I with Peregrine
Four years after the wedding, Mary fell seriously ill and in 1558, at the age of 43, she died, passing the crown of England to her sister Elizabeth.
Peregrina went back to Spain. Until the 19th century, the pearl was at the court and belonged to the Spanish queens.
Bonapartes and Hamiltons
In 1808, Napoleon's elder brother, Joseph Bonaparte, became King of Spain. In 1813, people dissatisfied with Joseph overthrew him, and he fled the country, taking Peregrine with him.
In the future, Josev passes the beautiful pearl to his nephew, the future Emperor of France, Napoleon III Bonaparte.
Pearl of Peregrine
Napoleon III led the country for more than 20 years, until another revolution took place in Paris in 1870 and his government was overthrown. Then the former emperor retired to England, where he was forced to sell to Peregrine. She went to the Duke of the family of Hamilton.
Nearly 100 years later, in 1969, the Duke's descendants sell the pearl for $37,000 at auction to famous Hollywood actor Richard Burton. Richard gives it for Valentine's Day to his beloved wife - the brilliant Elizabeth Taylor.
History of Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth was born on February 27, 1932 in London. Her parents were American actors Sarah Viola Wombrodt and Francis Lenn Taylor. The girl's early childhood was spent in the UK until the outbreak of World War II, when the family returned to the United States.
Elizabeth's talent manifested itself early, when she was 10 years old, she had already started acting in films. In 1944, the film "National Velvet" was released, thanks to which the young actress became famous.
Young Elizabeth Taylor
At 17, Elizabeth plays her first adult role in The Conspirator. After that, the fame of the actress is rapidly gaining momentum.
The personal life of the beautiful Elizabeth is also filled with success and drama. When she turns 18, she first marries the son of the founder of the Hilton hotel chain, but their marriage breaks up after less than a year.
Over the next few years, Elizabeth starred in various films, each time becoming more and more popular. In 1958, she played the female lead in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and in 1959 in Suddenly, Last Summer.
History of Elizabeth Taylor
The actress becomes the new prima of Hollywood. Then, in 59, her third husband died tragically. Taylor is interesting in everything: the press tirelessly discusses Elizabeth's career and her scandalous personal life.
However, the peak of fame overtakes her in the 60s. In 1961, she received an offer unheard of at that time - for a fee of a million dollars (!) To play the role of Cleopatra in a film of the same name. The picture brought her a dizzying success.
Elizabeth as Cleopatra
In addition to incredible fame, Taylor also finds the main love of her life on that set. The handsome Richard Burton, who played Mark Antony in the film, turned Elizabeth's head. They began a stormy romance.
In 1964, the lovers got married, and five years later, Richard presented the lady of his heart with a wonderful pearl Peregrine.
Richard and Elizabeth
The couple lived together for 10 years. During this time, they experienced many severe shocks, both developed serious problems with alcohol. In addition, Taylor struggled with being overweight and addicted to drugs.
In 1973, Elizabeth announced that she and Richard were separating for a while. A year later, a divorce took place. And a year later, the wedding again ... However, the ardent lovers were not destined to stay together, the new marriage quickly broke up - in 1976 the actors broke up forever.
Richard Burton died in 1984 at the age of 59 without overcoming his alcohol problem. Elizabeth has since married 4 other men...
In 2011, the story of Elizabeth Taylor, the great actress of Hollywood, who is in the honorable seventh place in the list of the greatest movie stars, ended. On March 23, her heart could not stand it - at the age of 80 she left this world.
Elizabeth Taylor wearing a Pelegrina necklace
And Peregrine's pearl lives on. Now it still belongs to the family of the legendary actress.
The famous Peregrina or wandering pearl was mined off the coast of Panama in the 16th century. The first appearance of the mother-of-pearl wanderer brought freedom to the black slave who got her from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish colonizer was amazed by the perfect pear shape, shimmering milky sheen, smooth surface and 56 carat pearl weight!
The luxurious beauty was presented to the Spanish King Philip II, who, in turn, presented her to her 12-year-old eldest bride and future Queen of England, Mary Tudor.
Not prone to sentimentality, a fanatical Catholic, nicknamed by her subjects as Bloody Mary, when she saw the pearl, did not restrain her admiration. The jewel was securely installed on the royal necklace.
Artists enthusiastically painted her on the royal ceremonial portraits of the Habsburg dynasty until the 19th century. Critics note that the jewel turned out to be more beautiful than the queen herself, so diligently the master painted the shape and brilliance of the pearl.
At the request of Mary Tudor, the court jeweler made a kind of transformer necklace, the lower part of which was removed and worn separately as a brooch.
During the flight of King Joseph Bonaparte from the country, his wife took with her a symbolic necklace for the Habsburg dynasty. At this moment, the order of inheritance of the royal jewelry is violated, the ex-king bequeaths the necklace to his nephew, the future king of France and a representative of the Bourbon dynasty.
The pearl begins its journey around the countries, first Napoleon III, during the years of exile, sells the necklace to the Scottish Duke of Hamilton.
Having fallen into the wrong hands, the pear-shaped beauty mysteriously disappeared several times, then accidentally found herself either in the cushions of the sofa of Windsor Castle, or on the floor of the ballroom of Buckingham Palace.
Modern jewelers claim that there was no magic, it was just that the setting for such a heavy stone was too light and unreliable. Despite the bizarre “antics” of the fugitive, the Hamilton family owned the sea beauty until 1969, when the duke, in need of money, sold her at a public auction in New York.
Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor has become the new mistress of the precious sea stone. British actor Richard Burton presented Peregrine with Elizabeth for the 10th anniversary of marriage and Valentine's Day, and then again there was embarrassment - Peregrine disappeared at the hotel! Later it turned out that the puppy of the star decided to feast on a huge pearl, mistaking it for a treat.
The Cartier Jewelry House offered the star to fix the pearl on the necklace as a pendant, as was the case with the first owner of Mary Tudor. After Elizabeth Taylor's death, the necklace was put up for auction by Christie, where it was sold for $12 million to an unknown buyer.
So the most expensive wandering pearl in the world again continued its journey around the world.
There are things that no one knows, there are well-known things, and there are truly legendary things, the glory of which extends for centuries. It is such a legendary thing that the precious pearl of Peregrine, throughout its history, belonged to the powerful of this world.
The first mention of the legendary La Peregrin, a pearl weighing 55.95 carats, dates back to the middle of the sixteenth century. Even her appearance in history is romantic in itself. The Pearl Islands in the Gulf of Panama at that time had been a Spanish colony for more than a century, in which slaves mined mother-of-pearl stone, so valued by the nobility of those times. A dark-skinned slave, during his next dive, discovered a hitherto unseen stone in one of the shells. A very large beautiful pearl was a perfect pear-shaped, impeccably smooth, delicately milky in color, without a single spot or flaw. The slave immediately took his find to the owners. According to legend, the first owners of Peregrina were so impressed by the shape and size of the mother-of-pearl beauty that they granted freedom to the slave who brought them such a treasure. True, then it was a rare, beautiful, but still nameless pearl. She received her big name and the status of a wanderer much later.
Having granted freedom to their lucky slave, the new owners of the wonderful find decided that such a rare and precious stone was worthy of being presented as a gift to the king himself. However, the young Spanish monarch Philip II did not keep the pearl, but presented it to his bride, the future Queen of England, Mary Tudor.
Maria was a complex, ascetic and religious woman to the point of fanaticism. Subsequently, her own subjects gave her the nickname Bloody Mary because of her orders to torture and execute those who refused to convert to Catholicism. Such a person is quite difficult to attract with jewelry. However, an unusual pearl melted the heart of Bloody Mary and the future Queen of England ordered the court jeweler to immediately insert the groom's gift into the ceremonial necklace, in which she is depicted in all the portraits. By the way, Maria turned out to be a practical woman, and, according to her own order, the jeweler made the necklace collapsible. The part in which a rare stone was inserted was separated and turned into an independent accessory - a brooch with pearls.
After the death of Mary Tudor, Peregrina did not stay in England, but returned to the Spanish treasury. Bloody Mary herself unknowingly set the tradition for many generations of Spanish queens to pose for court artists with a wandering pearl around her neck. Some evil tongues, however, claimed that in some paintings the mother-of-pearl stone turned out more beautiful than its owner.
Until the beginning of the 19th century, the precious pearl passed by inheritance within the Spanish royal Habsburg dynasty and did not show a propensity to travel. However, in 10808, Joseph Bonaparte, who had been in power for about 5 years by that time, fled the country. Before fleeing, he managed to give a family heirloom to the wife of his younger brother, the future King of France Napoleon 3 - Hortense Bonaparte. During this period, a beautiful pear-shaped pearl moved to France, receiving its current name, which has become legendary - La Peregrin - a wanderer.
The family heirloom of the Spanish monarchs did not stay long in the treasury of the French emperors. Louis Bonaparte, in dire need of money, sold a necklace with a precious pearl to the wife of the Marquis of Abercon, Louise Russell. But the beautiful mother-of-pearl stone, apparently, had its own views on what was happening. Twice Louise Russell lost a precious pearl, and the Marquise's servants found her each time in the most unexpected places of Buckingham and Windsor Castle. These incidents further cemented the reputation of the travel pearl. Romantic courtiers enthusiastically recounted to each other the stories of the disappearance and appearance of the stone in different places. Many people love mystical stories, but skeptics and cultural historians find their own, more realistic excuses for the strange behavior of the wayward jewel. As we remember, Mary Tudor - Bloody ordered to make a pearl a removable part of a precious necklace. For several centuries, the fasteners were worn and frayed from constant use, and at some point they simply ceased to withstand the weight of a massive pearl.
Having traveled a lot around Europe and adorning the necks of the richest and most noble people of her time, Peregrina finally ends up in America in the 20th century. In 1969, at Sotheby's, British actor Richard Burton purchased the legendary pearl for $37,000. He wanted to give the famous jewel to a famous woman, his wife Elizabeth Taylor.
But even here there were some adventures. All pet owners are familiar with situations with torn wallpaper, gnawed shoes and other household items that died in the playful teeth and claws of our smaller brothers. But the star puppy of the star couple at one fine moment decided that he, too, had done something great and tried to gnaw not just anything, but an ancient and legendary pearl. Elizabeth Taylor managed to save the beautiful Peregrine from the teeth of a playful dog in time, after which she ordered Cartier to make for herself an author's necklace of diamonds, rubies and, of course, a precious wandering pearl.
Despite the fact that the necklace turned out to be very massive and elaborate, Elizabeth Taylor fell in love with it and regularly appeared in it at social events throughout her life.
After the actress's death, Peregrina's Cartier necklace was auctioned by Christie, where an unknown buyer purchased it for $12 million, making the legendary wandering pearl the most expensive in the world. Where the jewel is now is not known for certain, but we can safely say that the journey of the wandering pearl continues.
The history of Peregrina is shrouded in secrets and legends, although, if you think about it, there is nothing mysterious or mystical about it. A rare, expensive piece of jewelry with such a long life simply cannot but change a large number of eminent owners and countries of residence. So do not believe all the stories about the mysterious ancient stones, these are just beautiful fairy tales. It is better to find and buy your own pearl on and start creating a new story with it, no worse, and maybe even better than the stories of the kings of old.
Peregrina's pearl (“La Peregrina”, which means “wanderer”, “pilgrim”, and therefore it is also called “Pilgrim's pearl”, “Wandering pearl”) is one of the most famous gems in the world.
Peregrine's pearl was found in the 16th century by a slave in Panama - on the Pearl Islands. By the way, the finder got freedom for this beautiful pearl.
The weight of the Peregrine pearl was 55.95 carats.
This famous gem has had equally famous owners. So the pearl of Peregrine was in the hands of Mary Tudor, Joseph Bonaparte, Louis Napoleon, the Spanish kings Philip II, III, IV and V, Charles II, III and IV, Fernando VI, the Duke of Abercorn from the Hamilton family.
Another pearl of Peregrine was depicted on the canvases of famous artists. For example, this pearl is depicted in two paintings by the famous artist Velasquez.
Abercorn's heirs sold the Peregrine pearl at auction for $37,000. And the famous actor Richard Burton bought this pearl, who presented this gem to Elizabeth Taylor.
By the way, the pearl of Peregrine was lost several times, as it fell out of the jewelry where it was inserted due to its weight. However, she was always found.
In 2005, with the permission of Elizabeth Taylor, the Peregrine Pearl could be viewed at the Smithsonian Institution exhibit.
And after the death of Elizabeth Taylor, the pearl of Peregrine was sold again and the price of this famous gem was already 11.8 million dollars (!).
Many romantic stories are connected with the pearl of Peregrina. Appearing from the shell, she made a man free who no longer counted on it, then she was present in royal portraits more often than the kings themselves, and already in the twentieth century she became the center of one of the most fatal love stories.
In the sixteenth century, it was caught from the waters of the Gulf of Panama by a black slave from the Pearl Islands. When the slave's owners saw the pearl, they gasped - truly, it was the most beautiful sight bestowed on them by the ocean. The shape of the pearl was pear-shaped, ideally correct, and the color was milky-white, almost transparent. The legend says that for such an exquisite catch, the slave received freedom. Don Diego Temes presented the pearl to the Spanish King Philip II - it was a gift worthy of a king! And soon Philip presented it to his bride, the future Queen of Spain and England, Mary Tudor - Bloody Mary.
There are several portraits in which Mary is depicted with a beautiful pearl, she rests on the chest of the queen. Sometimes the queen used a jewel in the form of a brooch. But after the death of Mary, the pearl returned to the Spanish treasury as the property of the Spanish crown. But Mary could be proud of the fact that she laid the tradition - from now on, all Spanish queens posed for ceremonial portraits with Mary's pear-shaped pearl on her chest. Especially famous is the equestrian portrait of Queen Margherita by Diego Velasquez - a perfect pearl flaunts on the chest of the royal rider. After the Habsburg dynasty, the pearl passed into the hands of the Spanish Bourbons.
In 1808, Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon's elder brother, becomes king of Spain, and five years later he flees the country, having managed to give the pearl to Hortense, Napoleon's stepdaughter and wife of his younger brother Louis. It was then that the pearl received the name La Peregrina - which means "Wanderer". Peregrine was inherited by Louis Napoleon, who later became Emperor of France under the name Napoleon III. He sold the pearl, desperate for money. The new owner was the Marquis of Abercon from the Scottish family of Hamilton, or rather, his wife Louise Russell. Twice the couple lost Peregrine, and both times in the royal chambers, first at Buckingham Palace, then at Windsor Castle. It wasn't that Louise was so distracted, it was just that she loved the pearl and wore it often, and the weight of the jewelry was too big for the setting. Eventually the top of the pearl was drilled through and attached to the family's necklace.
It turned out that for four centuries the pearl "traveled" from America to Spain, then to England, again to Spain, France and again to England. In the twentieth century, Peregrina lived up to its name once again, going to the USA - to the dream city of Los Angeles. In 1969, the Duke of Abercrombie sold the pearl at Sotheby's. The buyer paid $37,000 for the exquisite jewel. It turned out to be the British actor Richard Burton, and Peregrina was intended for his wife, the famous Elizabeth Taylor. Their crazy ten-year marriage was in full swing. I must say that later the couple divorced, but not for long. Soon they got married again - and again briefly. After the final quarrel and almost Italian divorce, Peregrina, of course, stayed with Taylor.
Subsequently, the actress also nearly lost the pearl. Her favorite puppy decided to gnaw diva. After this incident, Elizabeth did the same as Louise Russell - she ordered the pearl to be set in the necklace. For this purpose, a special necklace was made - not to insert, in fact, Peregrina into the first necklace that came across. The French jewelry company "Cartier" was ordered a beautiful and expensive jewelry made of pearls, diamonds and rubies. The pear-shaped Peregrine has been turned into a pendant that completes the pendant of the necklace. The necklace was so heavy and rich that it almost looked flashy. But Elizabeth Taylor could be forgiven for her love of too bright things and loud deeds.
In 2005, Taylor allowed her incomparable necklace to be exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution. However, it cannot be said that before that she hid it - there are thousands of photographs in which Peregrina, along with her expensive “frame”, sparkles on such a famous chest.
After the death of the actress in 2011, the necklace was sold at Christie's auction for a fabulous $11.8 million. This instantly made Peregrina the most expensive pearl in the world. Although this title is not entirely fair - after all, the setting in the form of a Cartier necklace is also worth something.