Pearls of the First Ladies

Events

While United States Presidents and First Ladies do not have Crown Jewels to choose from when they get dressed up, one gem has been a long-standing favorite of the first ladies – the pearl. Our first First Lady, Martha Washington, loved pearls, especially small, naturally formed seed pearls She often wore a dove-shaped pin where seed pearls make up the wings and some of the body of the bird and eight graduated pearls, each circled by small seed pearls, make up the body of the dove, with the smallest at the head and largest at the tail.

Mary Todd Lincoln also had beautiful seed pearl jewelry purchased for her by her husband from Tiffany & Co. Luckily, there is a photo of Mary wearing the necklace and matching bracelets at the first Lincoln Inaugural Ball.

Many of the first ladies wore triple strand pearl necklaces, including Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Kennedy and Barbara Bush. Many other ladies wore the simple yet elegant single strand of pearls, including Bess Truman, Ladybird Johnson, Eleanor (Rosealynn) Carter to name just a few.

Pearls are timeless, elegant and beautiful pieces of jewelry and work well at any occasion. Stop by Bridgewaters to find your new favorite pearl piece.