Take a gander at these Edwardian-esque pearl earrings from Dragon Dreams Jewelry. That's something to stock a few Christmas lists, I'm sure.
The Edwardian era was actually the end of the natural pearl's use in jewelry. Once the most expensive gem in the world, in 1913 the first cultured pearls came onto the Western market following the discoveries made by Japanese scientists about how to 'seed' oysters to produce the precious stones. Prior to this, pearls had had to be obtained by sending someone down into the water to pull open oysters and hope one of them might have a pearl inside.
Once cultured pearls came to the world, the value of the natural pearl dropped significantly, to the point that the work was hardly worth it anymore. Today, almost all pearls sold are cultured.
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