Diving for Treasure: Mexican Pearls
Tara A. Spears
While most people appreciate the beauty and value of natural pearls, few people realize that Mexico was once the world’s major source of pearls. For centuries, Mexico’s interior has provided rich supplies of precious metals but its oceans yield a rich supply of marine treasures such as pearls and oysters.
According to Baja Insider, “The history of pearl collecting in Mexico goes back for centuries. When Spanish explorers sailed into the Sea of Cortés (Gulf of California) in the early 1530s they encountered Pericú Indians wearing necklaces strung with red berries, shells and blackened pearls. It is believed that pearl jewelry in the region dates back about 7000 years. Lacking metal knives, the only way the Indians could prize open the oyster shells and find pearls was by throwing the shells into a fire, hence the charred pearls. The Spanish explorers quickly recognized that their knives would yield lustrous milky-white pearls, the equal in quality of any found anywhere else.
Harvesting pearls became a priority as the Spaniards tried to establish permanent settlements on the arid peninsula now known as Baja California. From 1535 to Mexican independence in 1821, thousands of pearls were dispatched to Europe on a regular basis, where they were incorporated into the lavishly decorated regalia of many notable European courts. During the period of Jesuit missions in Baja (1697 to 1768) pearl collecting was restricted, but even then illegal traffic in pearls persisted.”
Following Mexico’s independence, other European nations besides Spain sought access to Baja pearls. Pearls were once in abundance throughout the Sea of Cortez. Hundreds of boats docked in the bay of La Paz and along the shores of Isla Espiritu Santo to send divers digging for oysters. (see map)
According to Geo-Mex, “The search for oyster shells with pearls inside was revolutionized after 1874 when larger vessels, equipped with diving suits and accompanying equipment, first entered Mexican waters. The newer methods permitted access to shells in much deeper water, and lengthened the season, greatly increasing the industry’s productivity.” However, the dangers associated with pearl hunting were still huge. Equipment failures and lax supervision cost many lives. According to Kunz and Stevenson, divers confined to diving suits for hours at a time frequently suffered rheumatism, paralysis (due to compression and sudden temperature changes) and partial deafness. On the other hand, using diving suits reduced shark attacks.
The conditions in Baja California were so favorable for pearling that by 1889, within a few years of its incorporation, the Mexican company, Compañía Perlífera de la Baja California (based in La Paz, and employing about 900 men,) had come to completely dominate the world pearling industry. One of the largest pearls found in the Sea of Cortés was one weighing 372 grains found near Mulegé in 1884. On arrival in Paris, its value was estimated at $16,600 dollars which was a huge sum at that time. A 400-grain pearl, found in the same area, now forms part of the Spanish crown jewels.
By the twentieth century, Mexican waters were hailed for producing “some of the finest jewels of this kind found anywhere in the world”. Unfortunately, greed led to rampant overfishing of oyster beds of natural stock; the over fishing allowed cultured and artificial pearls to out-compete natural pearls in terms of price and availability. By 1936, it appeared that the oyster beds would never recover. Finding fifteen to twenty small pearls required the harvesting of a ton of oyster shells. To cap it off, an unknown disease then spread rapidly through the remaining oysters, virtually wiping them out.
When the American writer John Steinbeck arrived in Baja in 1941, the glory days of Mexican pearling were over. It was when he was visiting La Paz that Steinbeck learned a legendary (and cautionary) local tale about the greed associated with finding a massive pearl. The story became the catalyst for his novella “The Pearl“, published in 1947. In the story, Kino, an impoverished pearl diver, finds a huge pearl, “The Pearl of the World” which promises to transform his life. It does, but not in the way one might expect. Kino becomes a brutal sociopath.
As with any precious gem, there is a criteria that is used to determine a pearl’s quality, which effects its price. The value of pearls varies significantly based on the grade of five characteristics of the pearl: lustre, color, shape, surface and size. Gem quality pearls must be sorted and graded to evaluate the quality and value of the pearl. Since there are not two pearls that are exactly the same, sorting pearls is a very long and difficult process. Each pearl must be sorted by size, shape, color and luster, so it is handled hundreds of times.
A real pearl’s value is determined using various factors. The most important factor is whether it’s a natural pearl or a cultured pearl. Natural Pearls are Gemstones found in the sea. Oyster divers go to the surface of the ocean to find the natural gems. Cultured Pearls are created using a pearl farming technique. They are still 100% real pearls, yet because they are less rare than their natural counterparts they are more affordable.
Today, very few natural pearls are harvested in the Sea of Cortés, but several Baja California, Mexico, companies cultivate pearls, helping to extend a centuries-old industry into the present. It is especially appropriate, therefore, that the city of La Paz, once the center of the world’s pearling industry, is still known as the “Pearl of the Sea of Cortés”.