Pierre Cartier’s Pearl Necklace

Like many of us, renowned jeweler Pierre Cartier did not begin his jewelry empire without first locating a location where he could realize his dreams. He only had $100.00 when he went to Morton Freeman Plant to acquire his now-famous headquarters on Fifth Avenue in New York. He wore a magnificent two-strand pearl necklace that he had made and produced for quite some time. Plant's wife adored the pearl necklace, which was considered a sign of prestige and class at the time. During the Roaring Twenties, everyone was enamored with pearl jewelry of all kinds.

A double string of pure South Sea pearls made up the necklace. The smaller strand had 55 pearls, while the larger had 73. It had taken years to put together the necklace's 128 pearls. A diver had collected each one by hand. The pearls were then hue and size matched to create flawless graded strands.

Price: $1 million