By Tricia Oliveira

MIKIMOTO, famed for its finest quality cultured pearls, has launched the book entitled The Pearl Necklace, a collaboration between luxury publisher Assouline, and award-winning journalist and jewelry historian Vivienne Becker, which brings readers on a mesmerizing journey into the history of the 'first' jewel.

In the volume's pages which combines a rich exploration the lustrous gem since antiquity, and pictures from past and present, Vivienne shows how the pearl and pearl necklace has through the ages become the ultimate object of fascination and fantasy.

Richly encrusted with myth and legend, and radiant with intrigue and romance, the pearl necklace is a universal icon like no other and has threaded its way not only through the history of jewelry but the evolution of fashion as well.

Renaissance queens, maharajahs, Hollywood starlets, and modern influencers have all made the pearl necklace part oftheir wardrobes, each wearing it after their own fancy. It is a symbol of feminine purity, a sign of status and power, an emblem of tradition, a quintessential heirloom and an opportunity for reinvention – adapting chameleon-like across centuries to become an expression of changing ideals of womanhood and of a woman’s place in the world.

The most authoritative volume on the subject to-date, The Pearl Necklace, tells a story through photographs, portraits and still-lives of some of the world's most famed pearls and renowned women who draped themselves in them. The Pearl Necklace features Princess Diana, Grace Kelly as well as Lady Gaga.

The Pearl Necklace is now available in Singapore at selected bookstores.