Did you know that 150 years ago Russia was one of the largest exporters of pearls in the world?

Did you know that:

1. For centuries, pearls were considered one of the symbols of Russia. The chronicle of the 10th century mentiones a pearl earring of the Grand Knyazh of Kiev Svyatoslav Igorevich.

2. Pearls were collected only by men. Before they went for pearls, a certain ceremony of cleansing was performed: to go to Church to worship, to wash in the bath, put on clean clothes. It was believed that the evil man couldn`t take pearls or find them on the ground.

Sergey Gribkov "Hide and Seek", 1883

3. Hunting for pearls was only in summer months, when water warmed up, and the water level was low. Even in summer water in the Northern reservoirs is very cold, so a raft with a hole was used to look at the bottom of the river. Shell were collected with special tongs or forks. In small rivers men wandered waist-deep in water, feeling the bottom, and collected pearls with hands.

4. Pearls, extracted from the shells, hardened not immediately, so it was placed in the mouth and rolled with tongue for a pearl to become smooth.

Abram Klyukvin "Portrait of Novgorod Peasant Woman", 1830s

5. If a pearl darkened, it was given to poultry (chicken or duck). After a few hours, the chicken was killed, so that the gastric juice did not dissolve the pearls completely, and the pearls were removed from the stomach.

6. The most expensive pearl was considered to be of the correct round shape, which was called "round and even". The longer the pearls rolled around the saucer, the more expensive it was.

Konstantin Makovsky "Cup of Honey", 1890

7. In Russia there were more than 150 pearl-bearing reservoirs. The largest production of pearls was carried out in the north-western part of Russia, especially on the shores of the White Sea and in Arkhangelsk region, where there were huge colonies of European pearl. It was also mined in the Russian Far East, Sakhalin and Kamchatka.

8. 150 years ago, pearls were found in the tributaries of the Neva River near St. Petersburg. In 1872, the newspaper Sankt Peterburgskie Vedomosti wrote that the peasants engaged in pearl fishing, earn up to 250 rubles a year — the average annual salary of the worker at the plant.

9. It was thought that the pearls was in the waters with many salmons, as it was particular fish eggs deposited in a shell.

It turned out, indeed, the larva of mussel was on the gills of these fish, which not only fully provided the parasites with food, but also contribute to their resettlement.

Abram Klyukvin "Portrait of Merchant's Wife Anna Filatova", 1840s

10. Freshwater pearl lives up to 210-250 years and it does not age. Mussel secretes special substances that prevent aging process — the phenomenon of negligible aging.

11. Once a Prussian Baron, travelling around Russia in the middle of the 19th century, visited the estate and on a summer Sunday morning saw richly dressed women in pearl-decorated hats. What he saw made him speechless. It turned out that the local peasant women in festive clothes went to church for service.

The Baron wrote: "There are provinces, such as Nizhny Novgorod, in which every peasant wears around her neck, on a hat from 200 to 300, and sometimes up to 1000 real pearls".

Abram Klyukvin "the Woman in toropetskiy pearl headdress and veil»

12. Since the first half of the 17th century, Moscow had "Pearl Market" (Jemchuzny Riad) — the market, which sold river and sea pearls.

13. Foreigners were amazed by the wealth of Royal outfits covered with pearl embroidery. There is a mention of half a dozen royal bedspreads fully embroidered with pearls.

14. Here is just historical information:

In 1610-12, during the Russian-Polish war and the occupation of Moscow, the Polish shot from muskets with large pearls for entertainment.

During the Salt Revolt in 1648, the rebels looted so many pearls that they sold them for a song.

Ivan Kramskoy "The Portrait of Maria Fedorovna", 1881

At the end of 19th century, the barbaric pearl fishery destroyed pearld colonies, and bad environment conditions did not allow to restore them. Then there was a sharp decline in pearl fishery. In 1860, Russia exported pearls and earned 182,000 (1 billion rubles nowdays), in 1870, Russia got only 1,500 rubles for pearls.

Conservation area in Karelia still has pearl shell, but, unfortunately, Russia is not engaged in restoring its population. Pearl Shell is in the Red Book as an extinct species.