Philippine DUPRÉ LA TOUR
NATURAL PEARLS AND JEWELRY

Necklace and natural pearl pendants © photo archives of expert Philippine Dupré la Tour

The Expert

In 2000, having recently graduated in history and art history, Philippine Dupré la Tour joined a jewelry department within an auction house and discovered the expertise of antique jewelry while training at the Institut national de gemmologie. She then took over the management of this department, a position she still holds, appraising several thousand pieces of jewelry per year. In 2010, beyond this general training, her attention turned to natural pearls, known as fine pearls, whose expertise and market knowledge did not seem sufficient to her compared to what it had been in Paris a century earlier, before cultured pearls were developed. At the beginning of the 20th century, Paris was recognized worldwide for excellent jewelry craftsmanship. The City of Light was then the world's leading marketplace for natural pearls, considered the most precious ornament used in jewelry. Since the earliest civilizations, natural pearls have given rise to numerous beliefs, exerting a true fascination on mankind inspired by their rarity as well as the mystery of their origin and the complexity of their material, so difficult to comprehend. Today, natural pearls are once again highly sought after, and their rarity makes them coveted gemstones. Their appraisal and valuation require a difficult specialization because the criteria for valuing a pearl are numerous and complex. Diameter, pearl shape, and skin purity are the simplest to assess. Color, luster, and orient are three very different and much more subjective criteria. Finally, when they compose a necklace, natural pearls are evaluated for the uniformity of all these criteria and the harmony of the piece.