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From the mid-19th century to the end of the Art Deco period (around 1930), Paris was the nerve centre of 'pearlomania', in the decorative arts, opera, couture and, of course, jewellery.

The exhibition "Paris, City of Pearls" at the Ecole des Arts Joailliers tells the forgotten story of an incredible artistic, commercial and human adventure.

Pearls, which had been fished in the Persian Gulf since ancient times, became increasingly sought after from the 1900s onwards, driven by strong demand from a Western clientele and the leading jewellery houses of the Rue de la Paix and Place Vendôme: Cartier, LaCloche, Mellerio, the brothers Paul and Henri Vever, René Lalique and Georges Fouquet.

Bodice front by Henri Vever, Mississippi pearls, diamonds, enamel, gold and silver

In fact, the pearl and its myths were closely associated with the Orientalist movement, which was very much in vogue in the early 19th century.

This trade, which is documented in numerous archives, was to make the fortunes and fame of such great figures as the Rosenthal brothers, the first Parisian pearl merchants to visit Bahrain, who would rule the region unchallenged for a decade. They were followed in 1912 by the jeweller Jacques Cartier, who also decided to visit the Gulf, where he was received as a true dignitary. After the First World War, new merchants such as Jacques Bienenfeld and Mohamedali Zainal Alireza found themselves at the head of veritable trading empires.

The kings of pearls :

Rosenthal

Léonard Rosenthal (1874-1955) was of Russian origin and moved to Paris in 1889. After studying at the École commerciale, he worked briefly for the Baccarat crystal factory. As a regular visitor to auction houses, he gained invaluable experience and contacts, and also began to trade in fine pearls. In 1899, when his family joined him in Paris, he founded Rosenthal & Frères. From 1896, the company specialised in the trade of precious stones, particularly fine pearls. Contrary to legend, Léonard Rosenthal was not a great traveller. In 1901 he sent his brothers to Venezuela to buy the famous Caribbean pearls from the island of Margarita, famous in Europe for its pearl oyster beds. They stayed there for about four years, supplying the Paris company. It wasn't until 1906 that Madame Nattan asked him to travel to the Persian Gulf to bring back the world's finest pearls, whose reputation surpassed that of Latin America. It was on this mission that he earned his nickname, the 'King of Pearls'.

Because of their Jewish faith, the Rosenthals became victims of Nazi persecution in the 1940s. Léonard Rosenthal managed to flee France via Spain, Portugal and then Brazil before settling in New York in 1941. Ironically, he rebuilt part of his fortune in the United States by trading in cultured pearls, which he had tried to ban in France.

Lady Wolverton necklace by Frédéric Boucheron, fine pearls, diamonds, gold and silver, circa 1896-1902

Bienenfeld

Jacques Bienenfeld (1875-1933), a dealer of Austro-Hungarian (now Ukrainian) origin and a contemporary of Rosenthal, also arrived in Paris in 1889. Initially specialising in second-hand jewellery, he developed his business, according to legend, after acquiring the jewels of an African king. He gradually turned to the trade in fine pearls, enlisting the help of experts in oyster biology and ecology, before becoming a specialist himself and opening his own shop in 1914 on rue Lafayette. He stood out among the many merchants who set up shop on this prestigious street. His business flourished during the "pearl mania" and he soon acquired his own building, earning him the nickname "the other pearl king" or "the great Jacques Bienenfeld".

Necklace of fine pearls, diamonds, gold and silver, 1890

Cartier

Of the Cartier siblings, Jacques was the one most interested in pearls from his London boutique. In 1911, on the occasion of the coronation of the British royal couple as Emperor of India, he made his first visit to the country. During this first trip he was commissioned by many Indian princes to create jewellery in the Western style. But it was on a second trip to the Orient, between 1912 and 1913, that he really immersed himself in the pearl trade. Around the Gulf, he began to establish commercial links with merchants in Bahrain and Dubai. He negotiated directly with the Sultan of Oman and the Sheikh of Dubai, both of whom opened many doors for him.

Land, sea and air routes were opened up and the pearl trade was the source of an unprecedented economic boom.

Drapery brooch by Cartier, pink conch, fine pearls, diamonds and platinum, 1913-1923

 

A little reminder about pearls ...

Historically, and in accordance with international standards and French legislation, the term 'pearl' used alone in jewellery refers to a fine or natural pearl. These pearls are described in this way to emphasise the fact that they are created without human intervention. However, it was not until the 1920s, with the gradual arrival of cultured pearls on the Parisian market, that this distinction began to be made in France.

Although all molluscs are capable of producing pearls, the quality varies according to the species and the temperature, salinity and nutritional conditions of the animal. The finest pearls used in jewellery generally come from marine oysters found in warm regions on both sides of the equator.

The exact causes of pearl formation remain partly obscure (viruses, bacteria?), but it has been established that all pearls result from the displacement of epithelial cells that secrete the shell within the connective tissue of the mollusc's mantle.

 

The Pearl and the Arts :

The Music: Opera by Georges Bizet

Les Pêcheurs de Perles (The Pearl Fishers) is an opera by George Bizet, first performed in 1863, written by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré, about a love triangle in a pearl fishing village on the island of Ceylon. Only about twenty performances were given during the composer's lifetime. It was only later, from 1893, and after the loss of the original scores, that the work gradually became a success.

Fashion :

Jeanne Lanvin & Coco Chanel

In the Parisian pearl trade, Jeanne Lanvin (1867-1946) was the epitome of fashionable elegance. An emblematic figure of her time, like Gabrielle Chanel or Jeanne Toussaint, 'Mademoiselle' Jeanne, as she was known, had a profound influence on the aesthetics of her era. Having started out as a milliner at the age of thirteen, she quickly gained a solid reputation and aspired to open her own boutique, which she did in 1890. Famous for her emblematic three-strand necklace of fine pearls, which she wore at all times, she helped revolutionise the Parisian silhouette by dressing both women and children.

Portrait of Jeanne Lanvin by Clémentine-Hélène Dufau, 1925

 

Pearl Jewellery :

Pearls and Art-Nouveau

At the beginning of the 20th century, the great jewellery houses of the Rue de la Paix and Place Vendôme (Vever, Lalique, Mellerio, Lacloche, Fouquet, etc.) developed a passion for pearls. Pearls, combined with platinum or yellow gold, diamonds and enamel, are available in tiaras, bracelets, earrings and necklaces. Baroque pearls, round pearls, pink or white pearls - the appeal of Gulf pearls was strong, despite the presence of a few freshwater pearls from the Mississippi. From 1910 to 1920, the demand for pearls in the United States exploded, causing prices to soar. For example, Pierre Cartier (Jacques' brother) traded a necklace of two strands of 65 and 73 pearls for his new New York mansion on 5th Avenue, which still houses the Cartier New York boutique.

 

Pearls and Art-Deco

The Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, held in Paris in 1925, helped to intensify the 'pearlomania' that reigned in the capital at the time. Although the arrival of Japanese cultured pearls seemed to herald the end of Paris's dominance of the pearl market, demand for fine pearls remained strong while supply became scarce. The decline of Paris was accelerated by the 1929 crisis and completed by the Second World War.

 

The arrival of cultured pearls

At a time when the pearl market was experiencing explosive growth and 'pearlomania' was at its peak, the introduction of cultured pearls by Japanese artist Kokichi Mikimoto at the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts turned the Paris market upside down. Figures such as Rosenthal and Bienenfeld led the charge against Parisian dealers, seeking to ban or regulate the trade in what they called 'imitations'. At the end of the 1920s, this conflict of interests led to the creation of the Laboratoire Français de Gemmologie (LFG), with the aim of establishing a body to monitor pearls.

The war forced French traders to abandon the Gulf pearl trade and turn to cultured pearls. To preserve the black pearls of Tahiti, pearl farms were set up thanks to Franco-Japanese cooperation. During this period, the popularity of cultured pearls increased and the fine pearl trade in Paris declined.

 

Mikimoto and cultured pearls :

Kokichi Mikimoto was born in Japan at the end of the 19th century. The son of a modest noodle restaurant owner in the coastal town of Toba, he was fascinated by the world of pearls from an early age.

Face à la raréfaction des perles fines et à lFaced with the scarcity of fine pearls and their often mediocre quality, he embarked on an ambitious project: to force oysters to produce pearls of superior quality. After years of failure and on the verge of bankruptcy, he finally succeeded in 1893 in creating his first cultured pearls, albeit in the form of half spheres (Mabé pearls).

It was only after years of further research that he succeeded in producing perfectly round pearls, marking the beginning of a new era in world jewellery. His dream was to 'adorn the necks of every woman in the world with pearls' - a goal he undoubtedly largely achieved, as the method he perfected is still used today.

 

The End of an Era

Although the massive arrival of Japanese cultured pearls played a significant role, this alone does not explain the end of the pearl trade in the Gulf. Other factors included the over-exploitation of oyster beds in the Arabian Gulf and the 1929 stock market crash, which led to a fall in demand for luxury goods. Within a few years, almost 70% of the Oriental pearl market collapsed.

Fishing grounds are now highly protected and controlled, and only a tiny amount of 'new' fine pearls are produced to supply a market that is essentially fed by family collections and pearls removed from old jewellery. In Paris, as in the rest of the world, fine pearls continue to inspire the jewellery elite.

Canard brooch by Cartier, pearl blowing, emeralds, sapphire, diamond, coral, gold and platinum, 1953

If you are interested in pearls, don’t hesitate to discover what Les Pierres de Julie offer in our store…

We are also available for any free expertise of your jewelry, for that you can send an email with your photos to contact@lespierresdejulie.com.

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