These Aren't Your Grandmother's Pearls

One of the most iconic portraits of Coco Chanel, captured by Herb Ritts, saw her wearing layered strands of pearls. The designer famously once said: "A woman needs ropes and ropes of pearls," and though it's been over 45 years since her death, Karl Lagerfeld has kept her penchant for the world's oldest gem alive and well; in recent years Chanel's collection have shown various iterations of the opulent stone, with oversized pearls on models' necks and wrists, and on jackets and bags. This...