Results of self-protection ...
For thousands of years, pearls were rare treasures. They were discovered on seacoasts and in rivers — even in countries like Germany — but such discoveries were extremely rare. That’s because only the presence of a foreign object in its interior could induce an oyster to create a coating of mother-of-pearl to insulate the intruder. The result of this self-protective manoeuvre was seldom perfectly round and smooth. The few perfect pearls that were found were obviously not kept by fishermen for their wives, but instead found their way into the treasuries of kings and high churchmen, where they graced opulent robes of state and precious Bibles. Pearls were viewed as incomparable signs of prestige, whose mysterious lustre spoke of the inexhaustible wonders of the natural world.
Restrained charisma ...
Many noble properties were ascribed to pearls, including modesty, loyalty, a deep affinity with beauty, invulnerability and divine grace. Like Aphrodite, who was known in Greek mythology as “born of the ocean foam,” pearls are surrounded by an aura of powerful attraction. Their charisma is only enhanced by their discretion. Instead of glittering, they charm the viewer with their gentle iridescence. Chastely seductive, pearls embody erotic ambivalence. Famous beauties from Cleopatra to Jackie Kennedy and Liz Taylor have used the glow of pearls to enhance their appeal, Queen Elizabeth I owned 3,000 robes embroidered with pearls, and even the strait-laced Queen Victoria prized her pearl sautoir.
1900, the year of cultivation ...
Elite portrait painters such as Lucas Cranach, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Boldoni, Franz von Stuck and John Singer Sargent also used the silvery glow of pearls to highlight the exquisite allure of a lovely lady’s décolleté. So it’s no wonder that the world took notice of the sensational news, publicized at the Paris Exhibition of 1900, that the Japanese Kokichi Mikimoto had discovered a way to systematically grow pearls. Ever since then, Japan has been the El Dorado of women all over the world who would like to enhance their beauty with the charm of pearls. Today, the Land of the Rising Sun still has the most experienced pearl cultivators, the most sophisticated cultivation techniques and the most important pearl auction in the world.
A German in the Land of the Rising Sun ...
The only non-Asian among the founders of this auction is the Berlin native Rudolf Voll, who emigrated to Kobe in 1937 and has been playing a major role in the Asian pearl trade ever since. This gentleman of the old school recalls with pride the many prominent Germans, from Graf Lambsdorff and Robert Lembke to the board members of the Deutsche Bank, who have visited his office in Hong Kong to buy pearls and be initiated into the mysteries of the Far East mentality by an old hand. For his friendly services as an information source, this “wise man of Hong Kong” received a Federal Service Cross from the German government. He also has a family connection with Wempe. His nephew Peter Schweer is not only the manager of one of the oldest of Wempe’s 19 branches in Germany, but also a shareholder of Pacific Pearls, Voll’s trading company in Tokyo, which has direct access to the local pearl auction. Two or three times a year, the two men meet on the 27th floor of a business high-rise between the Ginza and the Imperial Palace to examine the current array of pearls on offer.
It is all a question of the right proportions ...
As a young man, Schweer spent eight years working for his uncle in order to learn all about the pearl trade at its source. It’s therefore a special pleasure to accompany him on a tour of the pearl auction among crowds of Japanese wholesalers and pearl cultivators. Because the auction has to take place in a brightly lit upper story, we have a fantastic view of the seemingly endless city of Tokyo. The plain and narrow room resembles a gigantic classroom. Wooden cases of pearl lots, as they are known in the business, are lined up on long tables. Many of these lots consist of several strands of pearls, and occasionally they also include a small number of intact single pearls. The buyers examine the wares, using movements that are repeated again and again: They pick up a string of pearls, hold it up to the light that falls from the big windows, and slowly turn it back and forth. “The sellers don’t mind hiding a few flaws,” murmurs Rudolf Voll. He’s looking carefully for points of damage where the mother-of-pearl seed inserted by the cultivators into the oysters might shine through, indicating a lesser-quality product. Schweer scrutinizes the lustre of the pearls, its depth, power and degree of saturation. It’s all a question of relationships — that is, the right proportion of lustre and symmetry, because the thicker the pearl’s natural coating is, the greater is its deviation from the perfect form, as a rule. According to Schweer, pearls that are perfectly round are sure to be artificial: “The more beautiful the shimmer is, the more natural the shape will be. After all, the mother-of-pearl is not put on by a machine but by a living creature.”
Valued in Germany:
The discreet elegance of pearls ...
Many traps are set for dealers who are unfamiliar with the ways of the pearl exchange. “A lot of pearls are plumped up with all kinds of methods until they’re sold,” says Voll’s son Fuji, another pearl expert. “After the sale has been made, it’s too late to complain.” Fuji explains that some pearl producers use ether to lend their candy-coloured products a temporary artificial glow: “You see many beautiful pearls that are actually as dull as a piece of chalk.” Schweer criticizes some white Akoya pearls for lacking “punch” — that is, a shining surface — and finds a string of green-grey Tahitian pearls too dull for his discerning Wempe clientele. In Japan, this colour is worn for funerals. The bluish tinge of some drop-shaped pearls makes him suspect decomposition within. But Schweer makes an offer for some eight-millimetre Akoya pearls that would be perfect for an engagement necklace. And when he sees a lot consisting of seven chains of rose-coloured pearls, he declares, “We should bid for this.” He bids an amount that is just over the limit and practically guarantees him the deal. These transactions involve a certain element of risk. Professional pearl traders offer more than their financial resources allow, because they know they won’t be able to buy everything they wish. Dealers who miscalculate and find themselves unable to pay for their purchase have ruined their reputation and won’t dare to join the group of experts for a second round. Then too, they have to be able to correctly assess not only the dealer demand at the auction but also the wishes of potential purchasers at home. A current favourite is the classic eight-millimetre Akoya pearl, preferably with a delicate pink shimmer. “Germans value the discreet elegance of pearls and their subtle interplay with the wearer’s complexion,” Schweer says.
Looking for dreams ...
He’s also on the lookout for the large steel-grey black-lip Tahitian pearls from Cook Island and the luscious white or yellow-to-gold-coloured white-lip pearls from the South Sea. He makes an offer for three strands of olive-tinted Tahitian pearls. Because these pearls are perfectly smooth, he knows he’ll have plenty of competitors. Besides, the emissary from Wempe has some special orders in his pocket. He is looking for outstanding pearls that can be used to lengthen a necklace or create earrings for a long-standing customer. He also has a list of the precise colours and sizes of the pearls needed for a customer’s long-dreamed-of South Sea necklace. “Our customers greatly value this kind of service,” he says. After two days he still hasn’t found all the items on his list, so the last two days of the week are devoted to filling in the gaps.
Murmuring and debating ...
Our next tour takes us to the modest premises of the pearl dealers in the maze of Tokyo streets — shops just as inconspicuous as top addresses for diamonds in Antwerp. After the visitors have traded their street shoes for comfortable slippers, they have to run a gamut of safety gates, surveillance cameras and monitors. Finally the precious pearls, wrapped in cloths, are picked up from large boxes and held up into the light. Critically, Schweer rolls small Akoya pearls and strings of Tahitian pearls ranging in colour from black to purple back and forth on a white cloth. Sometimes a deal is closed only after substitutes are found for the defective pearls in a lot. Figures are murmured softly or debated with vigour. Pearl callipers are used again and again to check the sizes.
the ideal expression of strong emotions ...
By sunset, Schweer has done a full day’s work, and he and his business partners head for one of the seafood restaurants along the harbour. Visitors who join the pearl experts in Tokyo soon see that the dealers are trading not in consumer goods but in precious natural treasures with individual characters. As every genuine pearl is unique, strings of uniform pearls are as unreal as the perfect teeth of a Hollywood starlet. Even though today’s pearls no longer have to grow for decades within oysters, each has a unique history told by its colour, shape and lustre. The ideal shape is still the sphere, and lovers of pearls say there’s far more to this round form than an accident of nature. Thanks to the gentle lustre of their iridescent layers, pearls are the image of perfect calm and chaste seduction — the ideal expression of strong emotions gracefully held in check.
