Blame it on the Kennedy clan. Pearl jewellery has always had its and first lady Jackie. A photo of the extended Kennedy family their necks.

signature but the trend was set by matriarch Rose Kennedy, who size of Cool Mints and three strands around her neck, connected by a diamond clasp.
These are obviously South Sea pearls, the most desirable and most expensive of the cultivated breed, but it was a set of faux ones that famously sold for $US211,500 at a 1995 Sotheby\'s auction of part of the Jackie Onassis estate.
of the presidency, with the Kennedys\' son, little John-John (as he was known), reaching up trying to grab them.

Hence the bidding hysteria.
The fashion shows little sign of waning. When Julie Bishop, the Federal Minister for Education, Science and Training, appeared on the ABC\'s Press Gallery earlier this year, she did so with pearls on her ears and around her neck.

Her political colleagues Bronwyn Bishop and Amanda Vanstone are also pearl aficionados. Dr Fiona Woods, the 2005 Australian of the Year, rarely appears in public without pearls and Nicole Kidman is another ambassador.
Pearl jewellery appears infrequently at auction, at least when compared to diamonds, but just enough to keep collectors interested.

place an emphasis on this style. The examples shown here are from Leonard Joel\'s Autumn auctions, to be held on April 16, 17 and 18.
Its pearl expert, Rosie Thomson, explains that the value of pearl jewellery is usually judged on size, colour, lustre and pigmentation, plus the setting and, in cases like the most recent sale of the Duchess of Windsor\'s jewellery, the celebrity of the former owner.

important factor.
Connoisseurs are able to value a pearl instantly by its shine.