Most women love jewelry, whether they wear much or not. Some love diamonds and some can’t resist the lure of faceted colored gems, set in gold or silver. Others prefer the elegant simplicity of pearls. Pearls are also the only precious jewel that is organic. I am a pearl person.

In 1893, Kokichi Mikimoto harvested the first “cultured” pearl, a process of inserting a tiny piece of the lip of the oyster mantle into the oyster’s body, causing tissue to form a pearl sack and to secrete narce to coat the foreign material, creating a pearl.

For over a thousand years, pearls were harvested from the sea, with the principal pearl beds found in the Persian Gulf, along the coasts of India and what is today Sri Lanka, and in the Red Sea. They were so rare and so expensive that only the very rich could afford them.

My first encounter with pearls was when our family was visited at our home in Japan by a friend of my father’s. He was a Mr. Mikimoto, the nephew of Kokichi Mikimoto. He brought a large bowl of pearls and asked my mother to pick four pearls from the bowl. She picked one huge pearl and three smaller ones. He told her that the large pearl she picked with the best pearl in the entire bowl!

Later, we went to visit the Mikimoto oyster farm and were allowed to open oysters and to keep the pearls we found. I was disappointed because my pearl was green and not very large. My mother was also given a pearl necklace and earrings as a gift from Mr. Mikimoto.

I still have my mother’s string of pearls. They are graduated pearls and not very fashionable right now, but I love them. Before wearing the pearls for an evening out, Mama would wear them during the day so they would have luster by evening. She always told me that pearls had to be worn for them to keep their glow. I loved the feel of that string of pearls in my hands and even now, when I wear them, I can remember watching my sitting before her dressing table, putting on her pearls.

My oldest daughter has the large pearl from my mother’s original screw back earrings, which I had made into studs and I have a pearl drop made from those original Mikimoto pearls. One of my most cherished possessions is a little ring set with three natural Persian pearls and two old mine cut diamonds, which are very, very old.

Anytime I pass a jewelry store, I have to stop and look at the pearls. The showcases in antique shops will catch my attention if they have old pearls on display. I just can’t help myself. So, when I attended the Central Baldwin Mom’s Club yard sale, I was immediately attracted to a table inside where a young woman sat with oysters and pearls.

Jennifer Adams was happy to show me the freshwater and saltwater pearls that had been extracted from the oysters. Then, she opened one for me to see, and as she pulled away the oyster, there was a beautiful black pearl!

Jennifer, like many working moms, has a little side business giving pearl parties. Much like the Tupperware parties of my younger days, you can book a party and invite guests to open a pearl and then buy a setting for the pearl. Much more interesting than kitchen items for a demonstration party!

Since I was at the event to take pictures, I didn’t have money or intent to purchase anything, but I did register for the drawing at her table and my name was drawn later that day! Since I had participated in the opening of the oyster that produced the black pearl, Jennifer said it would be mine!

I rarely win anything, no matter how many raffle tickets I purchase or how many times I fill our a form and drop it into a drawing box.

Maybe pearls are just lucky for me.

Barbara Grider is staff writer for The Independent. Contact her at bgrider@gulfcoastnewspapers.com.