A marked example of the comparatively short life of pearls is furnished by a very celebrated one known as the Pearl of Portugal. This pearl was as large as a pigeon’s egg and of that shape, and naturally at its zenith was of enormous value. Seen a few years ago by an expert, he described it as having deteriorated into nothing more valuable than a piece of chalk of the same size and shape. Owners of valuable pearls will immediately exclaim: “Oh! but that is because it was not constantly worn next the skin.” There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of women who religiously wear their pearls next their skins all day, and some even at night, under the impression that they are so preserved. One of the highest experts in pearls and precious stones, however, puts this custom on a much lower plane. He says that the wearing of pearls next the skin is no doubt good as a burnisher, likening, from a purely commercial point of view, a woman’s skin to a finer form of chamois leather. But as to any preservative quality in the contact he will have none of it. Queen Elizabeth’s earrings, the four great pearls which hang beneath the arch in the King’s State Crown, are, therefore, apart from their personal connection, of considerable interest, as regards the life of a pearl as a gem of value. These pearls have probably never been worn next the skin, even of a Queen. They are drop-shaped and manifestly only suitable for earrings or pendants. Yet though Queen Elizabeth died more than three hundred years ago they are still in good preservation. Thus they may remain for several centuries more if, as at present, they are kept in a perfectly air-tight compartment at an even temperature. But at best they can never outlive a diamond. The exact history of these pearls is difficult to follow, and it is more by tradition and indirect evidence that it is assumed that they came from Queen Elizabeth. That great lady was, as all her pictures show, fond of pearls. She was a great Sea Queen, and we may be assured that her captains who quartered the globe brought home any great pearl they came across from distant seas or lands, knowing it would find a Royal purchaser. James I probably had not much use for pearls, except to horde them, but they seem not to have been amongst the Crown Jewels which he succeeded to, for they are not mentioned in the careful list that monarch made out in his own handwriting, and signed both at head and foot. This is understandable, for the pearls were Queen Elizabeth’s private property to bequeath to whom she pleased. It is not clear whether Charles I ever had these pearls, but the suggestion is that he had, and that he disposed of them to meet his necessities in his wars against Cromwell. Into whose hands they fell is a matter for conjecture as well as how they passed through the next century, for the next portrayal that we come across of them is in the State Crown of another great Queen, Victoria.