Charles II Pearl
Almost a Perfect Match with La Peregrina
Charles II Pearl along with La Peregrina was worn as earrings on the Queens of Spain.
Somewhat similar to the foregoing (La Peregrina) was the Charles II Pearl of Spain (1661-1700), which was presented to that monarch by Don Pedro de Aponte, Conde del Palmer, a native of the Canaries. This gem was found in 1691, or more than a century after La Peregrina. These two pearls were nearly equal in size, and for many years they were worn as earrings by the successive queens of Spain. It is reported that they were destroyed in 1734, when a large portion of the old palace at Madrid was burned. ("Hawkins' Voyages," Hakluyt Society, 1878, p. 315 note.)
The jewels of the Spanish crown have passed through so many vicissitudes that it is not surprising that but few of them remained in the Spanish treasury. After the overthrow of the Spanish monarchy by the French in 1808, Ferdinand VII, during the time of his exile, disposed of many of these jewels. It is asserted that, after the deposition of Queen Isabella, in 1868, the crown jewels were divided between herself and her sister, the pious Duchesse de Montpensier, and a considerable portion was eventually distributed among the numerous descendants of the latter. It is also stated that there is no mention of the Spanish crown jewels during the reign of King Amadeus, the first sovereign of the restored monarchy. There are, however, great quantities of pearls and other gems belonging to the various Madonnas in the Spanish churches, as, for example, Nuestra Senora de Atocha, Cavodonga and others.
As told by George Kunz and Charles Stevenson in “The Book of the Pearl”.
Go to main famous pearls and collections after Charles II Pearl.
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