Pearls, the "Queen of Gems," have perhaps the longest history of any of the precious stones. References to them first appeared in 5,000-year-old Hindu legends in which the god Krishna was said to have discovered them and given one to his daughter Pandaa on her wedding day. China's "Shu King," a history written ca. 2300 B.C., even differentiates between high- and low-end pearls, when a ruler quoted in the ancient tome notes that a lesser king sent "strings of pearls not quite round."

Later, these natural gems became all the rage in the Roman Empire. Wealthy Roman women were said to have upholstered furniture and decorated gowns with pearls, while top-drawer gems were valued so highly that the Roman general Vitellius was said to have financed an entire military campaign by selling just one of his mother's pearl earrings.

The Arabs were also enchanted by pearls. The Koran describes a paradise littered with them and emeralds. The Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, as well as the rivers of China and Japan's lakes and seas, were the tranquil sources of the historical pearl, which was a valued commodity along shipping routes and the Silk Road.