ROBERT WAN PEARL MUSEUM

At the Robert Wan Pearl Museum, you'll discover the history of pearls through the ages and across the continents.


All About Pearl Culture

The Robert Wan Museum is also an encyclopedia of pearl farming, from its earliest beginnings to the present day... What is a pearl? Where are they found? How are they cultivated? How is a pearl farm organized today?


The Pearl At The Heart Of All Religions

A universal messenger of immortality since prehistoric times, pearls have often accompanied the deceased to their graves. In America, pre-Columbian civilizations, China, Africa, Egypt and India, princes and lords were buried in garments adorned with pearls. Placed in the coffin, adorned or inserted into the mouth of the deceased, pearls, which carry within them the principle of life, led the deceased to a new destiny. They universally symbolize fertility and the cycles of life, the presence of the divine and the path of the soul on its journey to perfection. An emblem of perfection and the divine, the pearl is still and always the emblem of the mystical path that leads to celestial bliss.


The Fascination Of Artists

Pearls have always inspired men and women. Jules Vernes and his imaginary description in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Ernest Hemingway and his story of "The Old Man and the Sea" are famous examples. Painters, too, have represented or symbolized it, like Botticelli and his Glory of Venus or Rubens.


The most illustrious

The jewel of Egyptian Queen Cleopatra "The most singular and unique that nature and man have imagined", says Pliny the Elder, adding that it was worth 16 million sesterces, an absolutely colossal sum. Today, the Peregrina is certainly the most famous pearl. Discovered in 1500, it has passed through illustrious hands. A symbol of love, Prince Philip II of Spain gave it to Mary Tudor as an engagement ring, then Richard Burton gave it to Elizabeth Taylor...


Royal Glory and Profane Splendor..

An emblem of wealth, power and nobility, the pearl symbolizes royal glory. Throughout the centuries and across the continents, pearls have glittered on princely and royal portraits, sometimes in insane profusion.