Pearling

Pearls are among the oldest and most valuable natural precious gems in the jewelry industry. They owe their abundance in the gulf region to the unique waters and seabed. Treasured since antiquity, they are still widely regarded as the world’s finest. Pearls have been harvested from the Gulf for at least 8,000 years and the industry remained essentially unchanged until the mid-20th century, shaping the region’s cultural identity and historical. One of the means for gaining a livelihood according to the limited resources at the time, pearling relied on the unparalleled maritime knowledge of the nokhadas (captains) in identifying pearl bed, the skill and endurance of divers, and the collective work of the ship’s crew. Pearling transformed the Gulf’s economy between the late 18th century and the industry’s decline in the 1930’s. However, pearls remain a symbol of the region’s ancestral heritage and a testament to its past.