A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, particularly in Commonwealth countries, as an abstract name for the monarchy itself (and, by extension, the state of which said monarch is head) as distinct from the individual who inhabits it (that is, The Crown ). A specific type of crown (or coronet for lower ranks of peerage) is employed in heraldry under strict rules. Indeed, some monarchies never had a physical crown, just a heraldic representation, as in the constitutional kingdom of Belgium.
121-464: The papal tiara is a crown that is worn by popes of the Catholic Church from as early as the 8th century to the mid–20th century. It was last used by Pope Paul VI in 1963, and only at the beginning of his reign. The name tiara refers to the entire headpiece, including the various crowns, circlets, and diadems that have adorned it through the ages, while the three-tiered form that it took in
242-542: A malacologist would still consider them to be pearls. Valueless pearls of this type are sometimes found in edible mussels , edible oysters , escargot snails, and so on. The GIA and CIBJO now simply use the term 'pearl' (or, where appropriate, the more descriptive term 'non-nacreous pearl') when referring to such items and, under Federal Trade Commission rules, various mollusk pearls may be referred to as 'pearls', without qualification. A few species produce pearls that can be of interest as gemstones. These species include
363-466: A metaphor for something rare, fine, admirable and valuable. The most valuable pearls occur spontaneously in the wild, but are extremely rare. These wild pearls are referred to as natural pearls. Cultured or farmed pearls from pearl oysters and freshwater mussels make up the majority of those currently sold. Imitation pearls are also widely sold in inexpensive jewelry. Pearls have been harvested and cultivated primarily for use in jewelry , but in
484-473: A South Sea pearl – as described by CIBJO and GIA – is a pearl produced by the Pinctada maxima pearl oyster. South Sea pearls are the color of their host Pinctada maxima oyster – and can be white, silver, pink, gold, cream, and any combination of these basic colors, including overtones of the various colors of the rainbow displayed in the pearl nacre of the oyster shell itself. South Sea pearls are
605-415: A beaded cultured pearl is generally a polished sphere made from freshwater mussel shell. Along with a small piece of mantle tissue from another mollusk (donor shell) to serve as a catalyst for the pearl sac, it is surgically implanted into the gonad (reproductive organ) of a saltwater mollusk. In freshwater perliculture, only the piece of tissue is used in most cases, and is inserted into the fleshy mantle of
726-456: A body color that may be assessed as silver, silver blue, gold, brown-black, green-black, or black. Black cultured pearls from the black pearl oyster – Pinctada margaritifera – are not South Sea pearls, although they are often mistakenly described as black South Sea pearls. In the absence of an official definition for the pearl from the black all use to, these pearls are usually referred to as "black pearls". The correct definition of
847-765: A display of historic Vatican items. Pope Paul VI's "Milan tiara" was donated to and is on display in the crypt church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. , United States of America . Most of the surviving (three-crown) papal tiaras have the shape of a circular beehive , with its central core made of silver . Some were sharply conical, others bulbous. Except for that of Pope Paul VI, all were heavily bejewelled . The three crowns are marked by golden decorations, sometimes in
968-620: A major fire in the 18th century while the so-called " Irish Crown Jewels " (actually merely the British Sovereign's insignia of the Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick ) were stolen from Dublin Castle in 1907, just before the investiture of Bernard Edward Barnaby FitzPatrick, 2nd Baron Castletown . The Crown of King George XII of Georgia made of gold and decorated with 145 diamonds, 58 rubies, 24 emeralds, and 16 amethysts. It took
1089-452: A most atypical piece of headgear for an Ottoman sultan, which he probably never normally wore, but which he placed beside him when receiving visitors, especially ambassadors. It was crowned with an enormous feather. Conversely, the papal coronation ceremony, in which the Pope was fanned with flabella (long fans of ostrich feathers) and carried on the sedia gestatoria (portable throne),
1210-414: A natural pearl shows a series of concentric growth rings. A beadless cultured pearl (whether of freshwater or saltwater origin) may show growth rings, but also a complex central cavity, witness of the first precipitation of the young pearl sac. Some imitation pearls (also called shell pearls) are simply made of mother-of-pearl , coral or conch shell, while others are made from glass and are coated with
1331-405: A new Pope succeeded. The Archbishop of Bordeaux was chosen and took the title of Clement V . He removed the papal seat from Rome to Avignon and the tiara was brought to Lyons from Perugia for his coronation on 14 November 1305. In the inventory which was taken in 1315–16 Boniface VIII's tiara is again described and can be identified by the mention of the large ruby, which is recorded as missing. It
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#17328475349261452-430: A new monarch ascends the throne, the crown is placed on the new monarch's head by a religious official in a coronation ceremony. Some, though not all, early Holy Roman Emperors travelled to Rome at some point in their careers to be crowned by the pope. Napoleon , according to legend, surprised Pius VII when he reached out and crowned himself, although in reality this order of ceremony had been pre-arranged. Today, only
1573-465: A papal coronation, replacing it with a reference to an "inauguration". The use of Papal Tiara in solemn ceremonies was left by Paul VI. Though not currently worn as part of papal regalia , the papal tiara still appears on the coat of arms of the Holy See and the flag of Vatican City . Later in his reign John Paul II approved depictions of his arms without the tiara, as with the mosaic floor piece towards
1694-554: A papal tiara and carrying a papal cross . Crown (headgear) Three distinct categories of crowns exist in those monarchies that use crowns or state regalia. Crowns or similar headgear, as worn by nobility and other high-ranking people below the ruler, are in English often called coronets ; however, in many languages, this distinction is not made and the same word is used for both types of headgear (e.g., French couronne , German Krone , Dutch kroon ). In some of these languages
1815-420: A significantly shorter ceremony. As with all other modern coronations, the ceremony itself was only symbolic, as the person involved became Pope and Bishop of Rome the moment he accepted his canonical election in the papal conclave . The two subsequent popes ( John Paul I and John Paul II ) abandoned the monarchial coronation, opting instead for a coronation-less investiture. In 2005, Pope Benedict XVI took
1936-475: A solution containing fish scales called essence d'Orient . A well-equipped gem testing laboratory can distinguish natural pearls from cultured pearls by using gemological X-ray equipment to examine the center of a pearl. With X-rays it is possible to see the growth rings of the pearl, where the layers of calcium carbonate are separated by thin layers of conchiolin. The differentiation of natural pearls from non-beaded cultured pearls can be very difficult without
2057-634: A special tiara by Dieter Philippi, a German chief executive officer of a telecommunication company who had commissioned the gift from an artisan workshop located in Sofia . Each year, a large papal tiara is placed on the head of the famous bronze statue of Saint Peter in St. Peter's Basilica from the vigil of the Feast of the Cathedra of Saint Peter on 22 February until the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul on 29 June. This custom
2178-450: A species of small pearl oyster, Pinctada fucata martensii , which is no bigger than 6 to 8 cm (2.4 to 3.1 in) in size, hence akoya pearls larger than 10 mm in diameter are extremely rare and highly priced. Today, a hybrid mollusk is used in both Japan and China in the production of akoya pearls. Cultured Pearls were sold in cans for the export market. These were packed in Japan by
2299-509: A spherical bead as a nucleus. Most saltwater cultured pearls are grown with beads. Trade names of cultured pearls are Akoya ( 阿古屋 ), white or golden South sea, and black Tahitian . Most beadless cultured pearls are mantle-grown in freshwater shells in China, and are known as freshwater cultured pearls. Cultured pearls can be distinguished from natural pearls by X-ray examination. Nucleated cultured pearls are often 'preformed' as they tend to follow
2420-459: A step further and removed the tiara from his papal coat of arms, replacing it with a mitre . Only one other Catholic see uses the tiara in its coat of arms: the Patriarchate of Lisbon . The title of Patriarch of Lisbon was created in 1716 and has been held by the archbishop of Lisbon since 1740. The coat of arms of the Holy See combines the tiara with the crossed keys of St. Peter, while that of
2541-429: A triregnum shows them placed forward of the ears. All extant tiaras have them placed at the rear. The lappets, sometimes called " fanons " according to the 2nd definition of the word, are likely relics of the cord used to secure the original form of linen cap or turban around a bishop's head. The 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia describes the lappets on a bishop's mitre as trimmed on the ends with red fringe. Pope Paul VI
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#17328475349262662-522: Is a particularly large one weighing 14 lb (6.4 kg). The largest known pearl (also from a giant clam) is the Pearl of Puerto , also found in the Philippines by a fisherman from Puerto Princesa , Palawan Island . The enormous pearl is 30 cm wide (1 ft), 67 cm long (2.2 ft) and weighs 75 lb (34 kg). The ancient chronicle Mahavamsa mentions the thriving pearl industry in
2783-402: Is caused by the overlapping of successive layers, which breaks up light falling on the surface. In addition, pearls (especially cultured freshwater pearls ) can be dyed yellow, green, blue, brown, pink, purple, or black. The most valuable pearls have a metallic, highly reflective luster. Because pearls are made primarily of calcium carbonate, they can be dissolved in vinegar . Calcium carbonate
2904-543: Is described as having three circlets corona quae vocatur, regnum cum tribus circuitis aureis . It therefore must have been between the taking of the two inventories in 1295 and 1315 that the second and third circlets were added to the tiara. It was during this period that the fleur-de-lis was used to decorate the circlets. The tiara was kept in the Papal Treasury at Avignon until Gregory XI took it back to Rome, which he entered on 17 January 1377. In 1378 Robert of Geneva
3025-459: Is grown at a time. This limits the number of pearls at a harvest period. The pearls are usually harvested after one year for akoya, 2–4 years for Tahitian and South Sea, and 2–7 years for freshwater. This perliculture process was first developed by the British biologist William Saville-Kent who passed the information along to Tatsuhei Mise and Tokichi Nishikawa from Japan . The second category includes
3146-520: Is honour and glory for ever and ever"). Yet others have associated it with the threefold office of Christ , who is Priest, Prophet and King, or "teacher, lawmaker and judge". Another traditional interpretation was that the three crowns refer to the "Church Militant on earth", the "Church Suffering after death and before heaven", and the "Church Triumphant in eternal reward". Yet another interpretation suggested by Archbishop Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, who designed Pope Benedict XVI's tiara-less coat of arms,
3267-445: Is made from layers of nacre , by the same living process as is used in the secretion of the mother of pearl which lines the shell. Natural (or wild) pearls, formed without human intervention, are very rare. Many hundreds of pearl oysters or mussels must be gathered and opened, and thus killed, to find even one wild pearl; for many centuries, this was the only way pearls were obtained, and why pearls fetched such extraordinary prices in
3388-549: Is more valuable than these pearls. However, it is more abundant than the South Sea pearl, which is more valuable than the black cultured pearl. This is simply because the black pearl oyster Pinctada margaritifera is far more abundant than the elusive, rare, and larger south sea pearl oyster Pinctada maxima , which cannot be found in lagoons, but which must be dived for in a rare number of deep ocean habitats or grown in hatcheries. Natural black pearls are rare, with black pearls having
3509-409: Is no certainty about what the three crowns of the tiara symbolise, as is evident from the multitude of interpretations that have been and still are proposed. Some link it to the threefold authority of the "Supreme Pontiff : Universal Pastor (top), Universal Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction (middle) and Temporal Power (bottom)". Others interpret the three tiers as meaning "father of princes and kings, ruler of
3630-447: Is not the time to return to a ceremony and an object considered, wrongly, to be a symbol of the temporal power of the Popes." Paul VI's 1975 Apostolic Constitution Romano Pontifici Eligendo on the manner of electing the Pope, still envisaged that his successors would be crowned. Pope John Paul II, in his 1996 Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici gregis , removed all mention of
3751-420: Is represented with two crowns in his statues and tomb by Arnolfo di Cambio . The addition of a third crown is attributed to Pope Benedict XI (1303–1304) or Pope Clement V (1305–1314), and one such tiara was listed in an inventory of the papal treasury in 1316 (see "Tiara of Saint Sylvester", below). The first years of the 16th century saw the addition of a small orb and cross to top the tiara. The third crown
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3872-415: Is required to positively verify natural pearls found today. A keshi pearl is a pearl composed entirely of nacre and results from mishaps in the culturing process. Most are quite small, typically only a few millimeters in diameter, and are often irregular in shape. In seeding a cultured pearl, a piece of mantle muscle from a sacrificed oyster is placed with a bead of mother of pearl within a host oyster. If
3993-441: Is strikingly similar in design to the earlier tiara of Gregory XVI. It remained a particularly popular crown, worn by, among others, Pope Pius XI , Pope Pius XII and Pope John XXIII . Pope Pius XI 's 1922 crown, in contrast was much less decorated and much more conical in shape. Except for the papier-mâché tiara , the lightest tiara was that made for Pope John XXIII in 1959. It weighed just over 0.9 kg (2.0 lb), as did
4114-925: Is susceptible to even a weak acid solution because the crystals react with the acetic acid in the vinegar to form calcium acetate and carbon dioxide . Freshwater and saltwater pearls may sometimes look quite similar, but they come from different sources. Freshwater pearls form in various species of freshwater mussels, family Unionidae , which live in lakes, rivers, ponds and other bodies of fresh water. These freshwater pearl mussels occur not only in hotter climates, but also in colder, more temperate areas such as Scotland (where they are protected under law). Most freshwater cultured pearls sold today come from China. Saltwater pearls grow within pearl oysters, family Pteriidae , which live in oceans. Saltwater pearl oysters are usually cultivated in protected lagoons or volcanic atolls. The mollusk's mantle (protective membrane) deposits layers of calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) in
4235-618: Is the conch pearl (sometimes referred to simply as the 'pink pearl'), which is found very rarely growing between the mantle and the shell of the queen conch or pink conch, Strombus gigas , a large sea snail or marine gastropod from the Caribbean Sea . These pearls, which are often pink in color, are a by-product of the conch fishing industry, and the best of them display a shimmering optical effect related to chatoyance known as 'flame structure'. Somewhat similar gastropod pearls, this time more orange in hue, are (again very rarely) found in
4356-502: Is thought that natural pearls form under a set of accidental conditions when a microscopic intruder or parasite enters a bivalve mollusk and settles inside the shell. The mollusk, irritated by the intruder, forms a pearl sac of external mantle tissue cells and secretes the calcium carbonate and conchiolin to cover the irritant. This secretion process is repeated many times, thus producing a pearl. Natural pearls come in many shapes, with perfectly round ones being comparatively rare. Typically,
4477-456: Is used in the equivalent of coronation, but the head may still be otherwise symbolically adorned; for example, with a royal tikka in the Hindu tradition of India. Because one or more crowns, alone or as part of a more elaborate design, often appear on coins, several monetary denominations came to be known as ' a crown ' or the equivalent word in the local language, such as krone . This persists in
4598-606: The British Monarchy and Tongan Monarchy , with their anointed and crowned monarchs, continue this tradition, although many monarchies retain a crown as a national symbol. The French Crown Jewels were sold in 1885 on the orders of the Third French Republic , with only a token number, their precious stones replaced by glass, retained for historic reasons and displayed in the Louvre . The Spanish Crown Jewels were destroyed in
4719-516: The Broome area of Australia, while golden colored ones are more prevalent in the Philippines and Indonesia. A farm in the Gulf of California , Mexico, is culturing pearls from the black lipped Pinctada mazatlanica oysters and the rainbow lipped Pteria sterna oysters. Also called Concha Nácar, the pearls from these rainbow lipped oysters fluoresce red under ultraviolet light. Biologically speaking, under
4840-724: The Hedjet , Deshret , Pschent (double crown) and Khepresh of Pharaonic Egypt . The Pharaohs of Egypt also wore the diadem, which was associated with solar cults, an association which was not completely lost, as it was later revived under the Roman Emperor Augustus. By the time of the Pharaoh Amenophis III (r.1390–1352c) wearing a diadem clearly became a symbol of royalty. The wreaths and crowns of classical antiquity were sometimes made from natural materials such as laurel, myrtle, olive, or wild celery. The corona radiata ,
4961-841: The Indian Ocean in areas such as the Persian Gulf , the Red Sea and the Gulf of Mannar . Evidence also suggest a prehistoric origin to pearl diving in these regions. Starting in the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD), the Chinese hunted extensively for seawater pearls in the South China Sea , particularly in what is now Tolo Harbour in Hong Kong . Tanka pearl divers of twelfth century China attached ropes to their waists in order to be safely brought back up to
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5082-682: The Native American civilizations of the Pre-Columbian New World , rare feathers , such as that of the quetzal , often decorated crowns; so too in Polynesia (e.g., Hawaii). Coronation ceremonies are often combined with other rituals, such as enthronement (the throne is as much a symbol of monarchy as the crown) and anointing (again, a religious sanction, the only defining act in the Biblical tradition of Israel). In other cultures, no crown
5203-437: The family Pteriidae . Freshwater pearls grow within certain (but by no means all) species of freshwater mussels in the order Unionida, the families Unionidae and Margaritiferidae . The unique luster of pearls depends upon the reflection , refraction , and diffraction of light from the translucent layers. The thinner and more numerous the layers in the pearl, the finer the luster. The iridescence that pearls display
5324-466: The flag of Vatican City . Actual use of the papal tiara has declined since the reign of Pope Paul VI , the last pope to have a coronation ceremony. Starting with Pope Benedict XVI , popes have also stopped incorporating a papal tiara into their Coat of Arms. The papal tiara originated from a conical Phrygian cap or frigium. Shaped like a candle-extinguisher , the papal tiara and the episcopal mitre were identical in their early forms. Names used for
5445-471: The papier-mâché tiara made when Pope Pius VII was elected and crowned in exile, and the one made for Pope Paul VI in 1963, which is somewhat bullet-shaped, contains few jewels and, instead of being adorned by three coronets, is marked with three parallel circles and has a double-tiered crown at its base. The tiara given to Pope Pius IX in 1877 by the Vatican's Palatine Honor Guard in honour of his Jubilee
5566-710: The " radiant crown " known best on the Statue of Liberty , and perhaps worn by the Helios that was the Colossus of Rhodes , was worn by Roman emperors as part of the cult of Sol Invictus prior to the Roman Empire 's conversion to Christianity. It was referred to as "the chaplet studded with sunbeams" by Lucian , about 180 AD. In the Christian tradition of European cultures, where ecclesiastical sanction authenticates monarchic power when
5687-472: The 14th century is also called the triregnum or the triple crown , and sometimes as the triple tiara . From 1143 to 1963, the papal tiara was solemnly placed on the pope's head during a papal coronation . The surviving papal tiaras are all in the triple form, the oldest from 1572. A representation of the triregnum combined with two crossed keys of Saint Peter is used as a symbol of the papacy and appears on papal documents, buildings and insignia , and on
5808-569: The 14th century, the tiara of Boniface VIII began to be called the Tiara of St. Sylvester , and became venerated and considered as a relic. This was no doubt suggested by the Donation of Constantine , but it now came to be used only at the coronation of popes, starting with Gregory XI in 1370 and his successor Urban VI in 1378. It was used at no other ceremonies and was kept in the Lateran Treasury. It
5929-525: The 1922 tiara of Pope Pius XI. In contrast, the bullet-shaped tiara of Pope Paul VI weighed 4.5 kg (9.9 lb). The heaviest papal tiara in the papal collection is the 1804 tiara donated by Napoleon I to celebrate both his marriage to Josephine and his coronation as French emperor. It weighs 8.2 kg (18 lb). However it was never worn, as its width was made, some suspected deliberately, too small for Pope Pius VII to wear. A number of popes deliberately had new tiaras made because they found those in
6050-418: The English name Margaret . All shelled mollusks can, by natural processes, produce some kind of "pearl" when an irritating microscopic object becomes trapped within its mantle folds, but the great majority of these "pearls" are not valued as gemstones . Nacreous pearls, the best-known and most commercially significant, are primarily produced by two groups of molluskan bivalves or clams . A nacreous pearl
6171-576: The Fifth Avenue mansion that is now the New York Cartier store in exchange for a matched double strand of natural pearls Cartier had been collecting for years; at the time, it was valued at US$ 1 million.) The introduction and advance of the cultured pearl hit the pearl industry hard. Pearl dealers publicly disputed the authenticity of these new cultured products, and left many consumers uneasy and confused about their much lower prices. Essentially,
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#17328475349266292-519: The King found it so beautiful that he kept it for himself. Later, he elevated it to be part of the Spanish Crown Jewel. From then on, the pearl was recorded in every royal inventory for more than 200 years. According to Garcilasso de la Vega , who says that he saw La Peregrina at Seville in 1607, this was found at Panama in 1560 by a slave worker who was rewarded with his liberty, and his owner with
6413-515: The Lisbon Patriarchate combines it with a processional cross and a pastoral staff. The Archbishop of Benevento also uses the tiara in its coat of arms. The 16th-century Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent commissioned Venetian craftsmen to make a 4-tiered tiara modeled on the papal design , to demonstrate that his power and authority as Caliph exceeded that of the Pope. This was
6534-639: The National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. It is on permanent display in Memorial Hall along with the stole that Pope John XXIII wore at the opening of the Second Vatican Council. Paul VI's abandonment of use of one of the most striking symbols of the papacy was highly controversial with many Traditionalist Catholics , some of whom continue to campaign for its reinstatement. Certain voices went so far as to brand Paul VI an antipope , arguing that no valid pope would surrender
6655-518: The attractions which drew Julius Caesar to Britain. They are, for the most part, freshwater pearls from mussels. Pearling was banned in the U.K. in 1998 due to the endangered status of river mussels. Discovery and publicity about the sale for a substantial sum of the Abernethy pearl in the River Tay had resulted in heavy exploitation of mussel colonies during the 1970s and 80s by weekend warriors. When it
6776-459: The bailer shell Melo , the giant clam Tridacna , various scallop species, Pen shells Pinna , and the Haliotis iris species of abalone. Pearls of abalone are cultured pearls , or blister pearls, unique to New Zealand waters, and are commonly referred to as 'blue pearls'. They are admired for their luster and naturally bright vibrant colors that are often compared to opal . Another example
6897-692: The base crown became decorated with jewels to resemble the crowns of princes. Innocent III is represented with an early tiara in a fresco at Sacro Speco and on a mosaic from Old Saint Peter's , now in the Museo di Roma . A similar tiara, conical and with only one crown, is seen worn by pope Clement IV in frescoes from the 13th century in Pernes-les-Fontaines , France. The second crown is said to have been added by Pope Boniface VIII as signifying both his spiritual and temporal power, since he declared that God had set him over kings and kingdoms. Boniface VIII's tiara
7018-435: The build-up of a natural pearl consists of a brown central zone formed by columnar calcium carbonate (usually calcite, sometimes columnar aragonite) and a yellowish to white outer zone consisting of nacre (tabular aragonite). In a pearl cross-section such as the diagram, these two different materials can be seen. The presence of columnar calcium carbonate rich in organic material indicates juvenile mantle tissue that formed during
7139-562: The case of the national currencies of the Scandinavian countries and the Czech Republic. The generic term "crown sized" is frequently used for any coin roughly the size of an American silver dollar (ie., approximately 26.5mm diameter). Pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle ) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids . Just like
7260-487: The case. Typical stimuli include organic material, parasites, or even damage that displaces mantle tissue to another part of the mollusk's body. These small particles or organisms gain entry when the shell valves are open for feeding or respiration. In cultured pearls, the irritant is typically an introduced piece of the mantle epithelium, with or without a spherical bead (beaded or beadless cultured pearls). Natural pearls are nearly 100% calcium carbonate and conchiolin . It
7381-414: The collection either too small, too heavy, or both. Rather than use the papier-mâché tiara, Pope Gregory XVI had a new lightweight tiara made in the 1840s. In the 1870s, Pope Pius IX, then in his eighties, found the other tiaras too heavy to wear and that of his predecessor, Pope Gregory, too small, so he had a lightweight tiara made also. In 1908 Pope Pius X had another lightweight tiara made as he found that
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#17328475349267502-428: The conjunctive tissue of the mantle, these cells may survive and form a small pocket in which they continue to secrete calcium carbonate, their natural product. The pocket is called a pearl sac, and grows with time by cell division. The juvenile mantle tissue cells, according to their stage of growth, secrete columnar calcium carbonate from pearl sac's inner surface. In time, the pearl sac's external mantle cells proceed to
7623-458: The controversy damaged the images of both natural and cultured pearls. By the 1950s, when a significant number of women in developed countries could afford their own cultured pearl necklace, natural pearls were reduced to a small, exclusive niche in the pearl industry. Previously, natural pearls were found in many parts of the world. Present day natural pearling is confined mostly to the Persian Gulf , in seas off Bahrain . Australia also has one of
7744-481: The crown was the browband called the diadem , which had been worn by the Achaemenid Persian emperors . It was adopted by Constantine I and was worn by all subsequent rulers of the later Roman Empire. Almost all Sassanid kings wore crowns. One of the most famous kings who left numerous statues, reliefs, and coins of crowns is the king Shapur I . Numerous crowns of various forms were used in antiquity, such as
7865-503: The culturing process for them dictates a smaller volume output and they can never be mass-produced because, in common with most sea pearls, the oyster can only be nucleated with one pearl at a time, while freshwater mussels are capable of multiple pearl implants. Before the days of cultured pearls, black pearls were rare and highly valued for the simple reason that white pearl oysters rarely produced naturally black pearls, and black pearl oysters rarely produced any natural pearls at all. Since
7986-549: The development of pearl culture technology, the black pearl oysters Pinctada margaritifera found in Tahiti and many other Pacific islands including the Cook Islands and Fiji are being extensively used for producing cultured pearls. The rarity of the black cultured pearl is now a "comparative" issue. The black cultured pearl is rare when compared to Chinese freshwater cultured pearls, and Japanese and Chinese akoya cultured pearls, and
8107-490: The early stage of pearl development. Displaced living cells with a well-defined task may continue to perform their function in their new location, often resulting in a cyst . Such displacement may occur via an injury. The fragile rim of the shell is exposed and is prone to damage and injury. Crabs, other predators and parasites such as worm larvae may produce traumatic attacks and cause injuries in which some external mantle tissue cells are disconnected from their layer. Embedded in
8228-402: The emperor, chose to be crowned with a tiara bearing three crowns. The papal tiara was never worn for liturgical celebrations, such as Mass . At such functions the Pope, like other bishops, wore a mitre. However, a tiara was worn during the solemn entrance and departure processions, and one or more could be placed on the altar during the elaborately ceremonial Pontifical High Mass . The tiara
8349-412: The entrance of St Peter's Basilica, where an ordinary mitre takes the place of the tiara. Otherwise, until the reign of Benedict XVI the tiara was also the ornament surmounting a Pope's personal coat of arms, as a tasseled hat (under which a 1969 Instruction of the Holy See forbade the placing of a mitre, a second hat) surmounted those of other prelates. Pope Benedict XVI's personal coat of arms replaced
8470-461: The eve of his imperial coronation. Others were a gift to a newly elected pope from the See which they had held before their election, or on the occasion of the jubilee of their ordination or election. In some instances, various cities sought to outdo each other in the beauty, value and size of the tiaras they provided to popes from their region. Examples include tiaras given to Popes John XXIII and Paul VI,
8591-460: The form of a circlet surmounted by ornaments and eight arches. A globe surmounted by a cross rested on the top of the crown. Special headgear to designate rulers dates back to pre-history, and is found in many separate civilizations around the globe. Commonly, rare and precious materials are incorporated into the crown, but that is only essential for the notion of crown jewels. Gold and precious jewels are common in western and oriental crowns. In
8712-410: The form of crosses, sometimes in the shape of leaves. Most are surmounted by a cross set above a monde (globe), representing the universal sovereignty of Christ. Each tiara had attached to the back two lappets ; highly decorated strips of cloth embroidered with golden thread, bearing the coat of arms or another symbol of the pope to whom the tiara had been given. There are two rather unusual tiaras:
8833-401: The form of the mineral aragonite or a mixture of aragonite and calcite (polymorphs with the same chemical formula, but different crystal structures) held together by an organic horn-like compound called conchiolin . The combination of aragonite and conchiolin is called nacre , which makes up mother-of-pearl. The commonly held belief that a grain of sand acts as the irritant is in fact rarely
8954-435: The formation of tabular aragonite. When the transition to nacre secretion occurs, the brown pebble becomes covered with a nacreous coating. During this process, the pearl sac seems to travel into the shell; however, the sac actually stays in its original relative position the mantle tissue while the shell itself grows. After a couple of years, a pearl forms and the shell may be found by a lucky pearl fisher. Cultured pearls are
9075-404: The former by John's home region, the latter by Paul's previous archiepiscopal see of Milan on their election to the papacy. Popes were not restricted to a particular tiara: for example, photographs show Pope John XXIII, on different occasions, wearing the tiara presented to him in 1959, Pope Pius IX 's 1877 tiara, and Pope Pius XI's 1922 tiara. Pope Paul VI, whose bullet-shaped tiara is one of
9196-414: The head-dress, which is now usually referred to as a tiara, is described as enriched with 48 rubies balas , 72 sapphires , 45 praxini or emeralds , numerous little balas rubies and emeralds and 66 large pearls . At the summit was a very large ruby. Boniface VIII was succeeded in 1303 by Benedict XI , who took the tiara to Perugia . After his death in 1304 there was a period of eleven months before
9317-399: The hood of the regnum was lengthened and the circlet was greatly enriched with precious stones, while toward the end of his papacy a second circlet was added. The increased length had the symbolical meaning of dominion of the una sancta ecclesia over the earth, and demonstrated the meaning of the papal unam sanctum . In the inventory of 1295, the second year of Boniface's papacy,
9438-516: The horse conch Triplofusus papillosus . The second largest pearl known was found in the Philippines in 1934 and is known as the Pearl of Lao Tzu . It is a naturally occurring, non-nacreous, calcareous concretion (pearl) from a giant clam . Because it did not grow in a pearl oyster it is not pearly; instead the surface is glossy like porcelain. Other pearls from giant clams are known to exist, but this
9559-454: The host mussel. South Sea and Tahitian pearl oysters, also known as Pinctada maxima and Pinctada margaritifera , which survive the subsequent surgery to remove the finished pearl, are often implanted with a new, larger beads as part of the same procedure and then returned to the water for another 2–3 years of growth. Despite the common misperception, Mikimoto did not discover the process of pearl culture. The accepted process of pearl culture
9680-480: The iron crown of Lombardy at Milan or Monza and the golden imperial crown at Rome and therefore the Pope, too, should wear three crowns." Like a bishop's mitre, a papal tiara has attached to it two lappets , a pair of streamers or pendants that in Latin are called caudae or infulae . These are usually attached at the rear of the tiara, again as on a bishop's mitre, although the mosaic of Pope Clement VIII wearing
9801-435: The largest and rarest of the cultured pearls – making them the most valuable. Prized for their exquisitely beautiful 'orient' or lustre, South Sea pearls are now farmed in various parts of the world where the Pinctada maxima oysters can be found, with the finest South Sea pearls being produced by Paspaley along the remote coastline of North-Western Australia. White and silver colored South Sea pearls tend to come from
9922-412: The most unusual in design, was the last pope to wear a papal tiara (though any of his successors could, if they wished, revive the custom). Most surviving tiaras are on display in the Vatican, though some were sold off or donated to Catholic bodies. Some of the more popular or historic tiaras, such as the 1871 Belgian tiara, the 1877 tiara and the 1903 golden tiara, have been sent around the world as part of
10043-575: The non-beaded freshwater cultured pearls, like the Biwa or Chinese pearls. As they grow in the mantle, where on each wing up to 25 grafts can be implanted, these pearls are much more frequent and saturate the market completely. An impressive improvement in quality has taken place over ten years when the former rice-grain-shaped pebbles are compared with the near round pearls of today. Later, large near perfect round bead nucleated pearls up to 15mm in diameter have been produced with metallic luster. The nucleus bead in
10164-446: The normal tiaras in use were too heavy, while the lightweight ones did not fit comfortably. New methods of manufacture in the 20th century enabled the creation of lighter normal tiaras, producing the 900 g (2.0 lb) tiaras of Pius XI and John XXIII. That, combined with the existence of a range of lightweight tiaras from earlier popes, meant that no pope since Pius X in 1908 needed to make his own special lightweight tiara. There
10285-498: The office of alcalde of Panama. Margarita pearls are extremely difficult to find today and are known for their unique yellowish color. Before the beginning of the 20th century, pearl hunting was the most common way of harvesting pearls. Divers manually pulled oysters from ocean floors and river bottoms and checked them individually for pearls. Not all mussels and oysters produce pearls. In a haul of three tons, only three or four oysters will produce perfect pearls. Pearls were one of
10406-623: The office of the papacy and the Roman Catholic faith. However, the papal tiara disappeared from later depictions of the Popess and showed her wearing more standard medieval female headgear. All tarot cards also contain a representation of the pope, known as " The Hierophant ", in some cases crowned with a papal tiara. For instance, the Rider–Waite tarot deck , currently the widest-circulated deck in existence, depicts The Hierophant or pope as wearing
10527-399: The papacy by world leaders or heads of states, including Queen Isabella II of Spain , William I (German Emperor), Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and Napoleon I of France . The tiara provided by the last was made from elements of former papal tiaras destroyed after the capture of Rome, and was given to Pius VII as a 'wedding gift' to mark Napoleon's own marriage to Empress Josephine on
10648-469: The papal tiara in the 8th and 9th centuries include camelaucum , pileus , phrygium and pileum phrygium . A circlet of linen or cloth of gold at the base of the tiara developed into a metal crown, which by about 1300 became two crowns. The first of these appeared at the base of the traditional white papal headgear in the 9th century. When the popes assumed temporal power in the Papal States ,
10769-478: The papal tiara. His immediate successor, Pope John Paul I , decided against a coronation, replacing it with an " inauguration ". It was officialized in 1996 within the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici gregis after which Benedict XVI and Pope Francis did not have a coronation rite with the Papal Tiara. After John Paul I's sudden death, Pope John Paul II told the congregation at his inauguration: "This
10890-589: The past were also used to adorn clothing. They have also been crushed and used in cosmetics, medicines and paint formulations. Whether wild or cultured, gem-quality pearls are almost always nacreous and iridescent , like the interior of the shell that produces them. However, almost all species of shelled mollusks are capable of producing pearls (technically "calcareous concretions") of lesser shine or less spherical shape. Although these may also be legitimately referred to as "pearls" by gemological labs and also under U.S. Federal Trade Commission rules, and are formed in
11011-434: The past. Cultured pearls are formed in pearl farms, using human intervention as well as natural processes. One family of nacreous pearl bivalves – the pearl oyster – lives in the sea, while the other – a very different group of bivalves – lives in freshwater; these are the river mussels such as the freshwater pearl mussel . Saltwater pearls can grow in several species of marine pearl oysters in
11132-432: The pearl industry is making ongoing attempts to improve culturing technique so that keshi pearls do not occur. All-nacre pearls may one day be limited to natural found pearls. Today many "keshi" pearls are actually intentional, with post-harvest shells returned to the water to regenerate a pearl in the existing pearl sac. Tahitian pearls , frequently referred to as black pearls, are highly valued because of their rarity;
11253-403: The piece of mantle should slip off the bead, a keshi pearl forms of baroque shape about the mantle piece. Therefore, while a keshi pearl could be considered superior to cultured pearls with a mother of pearl bead center, in the cultured pearl industry the oyster's resources used to create a mistaken all-nacre baroque pearl is a drain on the production of the intended round cultured pearl. Therefore,
11374-452: The pontiff with ostrich -feathered flabella to the location of the coronation. Traditionally, coronations took place in St Peter's Basilica. At the moment of the coronation, the new pope was crowned with the words: Receive the tiara adorned with three crowns and know that you are Father of princes and kings, Ruler of the world, Vicar of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Pope Paul VI opted for
11495-602: The port of Oruwella in the Gulf of Mannar in Sri Lanka . It also records that eight varieties of pearls accompanied Prince Vijaya 's embassy to the Pandyan king as well as king Devanampiya Tissa 's embassy to Emperor Ashoka . Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) praised the pearl fishery of the Gulf as most productive in the world. For thousands of years, seawater pearls were retrieved by divers in
11616-404: The response of the shell to a tissue implant. A tiny piece of mantle tissue (called a graft ) from a donor shell is transplanted into a recipient shell, causing a pearl sac to form into which the tissue precipitates calcium carbonate. There are a number of methods for producing cultured pearls: using freshwater or seawater shells, transplanting the graft into the mantle or into the gonad, and adding
11737-486: The right set of circumstances, almost any shelled mollusk can produce some kind of pearl. However, most of these molluskan pearls have no luster or iridescence . The great majority of mollusk species produce pearls which are not attractive, and are sometimes not even very durable. Such pearls usually have no value at all, except perhaps to a scientist or collector, or as a curiosity. These objects used to be referred to as "calcareous concretions" by some gemologists, even though
11858-502: The same way, most of them have no value except as curiosities. The English word pearl comes from the French perle , originally from the Latin perna ' leg ' , after the ham- or mutton leg-shaped bivalve . The scientific name for the family of pearl-bearing oysters, Margaritiferidae comes from the Old Persian word for pearl * margārīta- which is the source of
11979-433: The shape of the implanted shell bead nucleus. After a bead is inserted into the oyster, it secretes a few layers of nacre around the bead; the resulting cultured pearl can then be harvested in as few as twelve to eighteen months. When a cultured pearl with a bead nucleus is X-rayed, it reveals a different structure to that of a natural pearl. A beaded cultured pearl shows a solid center with no concentric growth rings, whereas
12100-462: The shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carbonate (mainly aragonite or a mixture of aragonite and calcite ) in minute crystalline form, which has deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other shapes, known as baroque pearls , can occur. The finest quality of natural pearls have been highly valued as gemstones and objects of beauty for many centuries. Because of this, pearl has become
12221-462: The steps of the papal throne in St. Peter's Basilica and ascended to the altar, on which he laid the tiara as a sign of the renunciation of human glory and power in keeping with the renewed spirit of the council. It was announced that the tiara would be sold and the money obtained would be given to charity. The tiara was purchased by Catholics in the United States and is now kept in the Basilica of
12342-541: The surface. When Spanish conquistadors arrived in the Western Hemisphere, they discovered that around the islands of Cubagua and Margarita , some 200 km north of the Venezuelan coast, was an extensive pearl bed (a bed of pearl oysters). One discovered and named pearl, La Peregrina pearl , was offered to Philip II of Spain who intended to give it as a gift for his daughter on the occasion of her marriage, but
12463-432: The term "rank crown" ( rangkroon , etc.) refers to the way these crowns may be ranked according to hierarchical status. In classical antiquity , the crown ( corona ) that was sometimes awarded to people other than rulers, such as triumphal military generals or athletes , was actually a wreath or chaplet, or ribbon-like diadem . Crowns have been discovered in pre-historic times from Haryana , India. The precursor to
12584-416: The tiara with a mitre containing three levels reminiscent of the three tiers on the papal tiara. The mitre was retained on Pope Francis' personal coat of arms . In 2005, Pope Benedict XVI promulgated the document Ordo Rituum pro Ministerii Petrini initio Romae Episcopi that confirmed the choice of Pope John Paul II to refuse the tiara and the incoronation rite. In May 2011, Pope Benedict XVI received
12705-596: The tiaras and papal regalia melted down in 1527 to raise the 400,000 ducats ransom demanded by the occupying army of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V . Over twenty silver tiaras exist, of which the earliest, the sole survivor of 1798, was made for Pope Gregory XIII in the 16th century. On 21 March 1800 as Rome was in the hands of the French, Pius VII was crowned in exile, in Venice , with a papier-mâché tiara, for which ladies of Venice gave up their jewels. Many tiaras were donated to
12826-810: The use of this X-ray technique. Natural and cultured pearls can be distinguished from imitation pearls using a microscope . Another method of testing for imitations is to rub two pearls against each other. Imitation pearls are completely smooth, but natural and cultured pearls are composed of nacre platelets, making both feel slightly gritty. Fine quality natural pearls are very rare jewels. Their values are determined similarly to those of other precious gems, according to size, shape, color, quality of surface, orient and luster. Single natural pearls are often sold as collectors' items, or set as centerpieces in unique jewelry. Very few matched strands of natural pearls exist, and those that do often sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. (In 1917, jeweler Pierre Cartier purchased
12947-468: The world's last remaining fleets of pearl diving ships. Australian pearl divers dive for south sea pearl oysters to be used in the cultured south sea pearl industry. The catch of pearl oysters is similar to the numbers of oysters taken during the natural pearl days. Hence significant numbers of natural pearls are still found in the Australian Indian Ocean waters from wild oysters. X-ray examination
13068-453: The world, vicar of Christ ". The words that were used when popes were crowned were: Accipe tiaram tribus coronis ornatam, et scias te esse patrem principum et regum, rectorem orbis in terra vicarium Salvatoris nostri Jesu Christi, cui est honor et gloria in saecula saeculorum ("Receive the tiara adorned with three crowns and know that thou art father of princes and kings, ruler of the world, vicar on earth of our Saviour Jesus Christ, to whom
13189-561: Was crowned with a tiara at the papal coronation. As happened sometimes with previous popes, a new tiara was used, donated by the city of Milan , where he was archbishop before his election. It was not covered in jewels and precious gems, and was sharply cone-shaped. It was also distinctly heavier than the Palatine Tiara previously in use. Near the end of the third session of the Second Vatican Council in 1964, Paul VI descended
13310-481: Was "order, jurisdiction and magisterium", while a further theory links the three tiers to the "celestial, human and terrestrial worlds," which the pope is supposed to symbolically link. Lord Twining suggested that just as the Holy Roman Emperors were crowned three times as king of Germany, king of Italy and Roman emperor, so the popes, to stress the equality of their spiritual authority to the temporal authority of
13431-540: Was added to the papal tiara during the Avignon Papacy (1309–1378), giving rise to the form called the triregnum. After Pope Clement V at Avignon , various versions of the three-crown tiara have been worn by popes also in Rome down to Pope Paul VI , who was crowned with one in 1963. Lord Twining wrote of a tiara of Pope Boniface VIII that became known as the Tiara of Saint Sylvester: Under Boniface VIII (1294–1303)
13552-522: Was also worn when a pope gave his traditional Christmas and Easter Urbi et Orbi blessing ("to the City and the World") from the balcony of St Peter's – the only religious ceremony at which the tiara was worn. The most famous occasion when the tiara was used was the papal coronation, a six-hour ceremony, when the new pope was carried in state on the sedia gestatoria (portable throne), with attendants fanning
13673-558: Was based on the Byzantine imperial ceremonies witnessed in medieval Constantinople . Medieval tarot cards included a card showing a woman wearing a papal tiara and known as the Popess or Papess or the High Priestess . The meaning and symbolism of the card is uncertain. The crowned woman has variously been identified as Pope Joan (who, according to legend, disguised herself as a man and
13794-543: Was developed by the British Biologist William Saville-Kent in Australia and brought to Japan by Tokichi Nishikawa and Tatsuhei Mise. Nishikawa was granted the patent in 1916, and married the daughter of Mikimoto. Mikimoto was able to use Nishikawa's technology. After the patent was granted in 1916, the technology was immediately commercially applied to akoya pearl oysters in Japan in 1916. Mise's brother
13915-477: Was elected anti-Pope taking the style Clement VII , and he removed the tiara from Avignon. When the Spaniard, Pedro de Luna, was elected anti-Pope in 1394 styling himself Benedict XIII, he took the tiara from Avignon to Spain, where it remained until Aphonso V of Aragon failed in his attempt to renew the schism, and on his withdrawal of support from the anti-Pope Clement VII in 1419, the tiara was returned to Rome. In
14036-518: Was elected pope; some cards also show a child, and the Pope Joan legend pictured her as found out when she gave birth during a papal procession), as Mary, Mother of God , or even as Cybele , Isis , or Venus . Cards with a woman wearing a papal tiara, produced during the Protestant Reformation , and apparent images of "Pope Joan" and her child, have been seen as a Protestant attempt to ridicule
14157-493: Was last used at the coronation of Nicholas V (1446–55), and in 1485 it was stolen and no more is heard of it. Twining also notes the various allegorical meanings attributed to the three crowns of the papal tiara, but concludes that "it seems more likely that the symbolism is suggested by the idea that took shape in the 13th and 14th centuries that the Emperor was crowned with three crowns—the silver crown of Germany at Aix-la-Chapelle,
14278-490: Was not observed in 2006, but was reintroduced in 2007. Although often referred to as the Papal Tiara, historically there have been many, and 22 remain in existence. Many of the earlier papal tiaras (most notably the tiaras of Pope Julius II and that attributed to Pope Silvester I ) were destroyed, dismantled or seized by invaders (most notably by Berthier's army in 1798), or by popes themselves; Pope Clement VII had all
14399-661: Was permitted it was carried on mainly by Scottish Travellers who found pearls varied from river to river with the River Oykel in the Highlands being noted for the finest rose-pink pearls. There are two firms in Scotland that are licensed to sell pre-1998 freshwater pearls. Today, the cultured pearls on the market can be divided into two categories. The first category covers the beaded cultured pearls, including akoya, South Sea and Tahiti. These pearls are gonad grown, and usually one pearl
14520-527: Was the first to produce a commercial crop of pearls in the akoya oyster. Mitsubishi's Baron Iwasaki immediately applied the technology to the south sea pearl oyster in 1917 in the Philippines, and later in Buton, and Palau. Mitsubishi was the first to produce a cultured south sea pearl – although it was not until 1928 that the first small commercial crop of pearls was successfully produced. The original Japanese cultured pearls, known as akoya pearls, are produced by
14641-454: Was thus worn in formal ceremonial processions, and on other occasions when the pope was carried on the sedia gestatoria , a portable throne whose use was ended by Pope John Paul II immediately after his election in October 1978. His short-lived predecessor, John Paul I, also chose initially not to use it, but relented when informed that without it the people could not see him. The papal tiara
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