Welcome Rui Galopim for coming back!

Pearls have been used by man since the dawn of civilisation as it is proven by archeological discoveries (e.g. the ca. 7,800 years-old Abu Dhabi pearl) and by the use of Gulf pearls produced in the Pinctada radiata shell that have been recorded during Roman and Byzantine times, sometimes still referred to as Basra pearls. The establishment of a regular India Run by the Portuguese in the early-1500s enabled direct access to pearl producing centres in the Gulf and in Asia and, at the same time, the Spanish were sourcing significant quantities of pearls in central America (e.g. Pinctada imbricata, P. mazatlanica).
Famous pearls kept in various collections, like the ca. 450 ct Hope pearl at the Natural History Museum in London, remind us of the splendorous history of the use of natural pearls that suffered a significant blow with the introduction of cultured pearl products in the early 20th century.