Pearls of Wisdom

By Lisa Duncan

The elegant parlor of the Santa Barbara Club shimmered this week as ladies of the MClub gathered for “Champagne & Pearls,” an afternoon lecture celebrating beauty, history, and the enduring allure of pearls.

Organized by Maria McCall and Beverly Cavaliere, the gathering glowed with the luminosity of a Vermeer painting – if Vermeer had served champagne. Guests first mingled in the club’s rose-filled garden before drifting indoors to admire tables laden with pearl jewelry displays. Women in creams, pearl greys, and heirloom strands lent the afternoon the air of a Park Avenue tea party by the sea.

Cavaliere, renowned for her splendid tablescapes, transformed the room with elegant jewelry displays, pearl place cards handwritten by Juliette Castagnola, and a host of thoughtful pearl-themed touches. Assisting throughout the afternoon was a cheerful “Pearl Posse” of Susan Yamamoto, Susan Day, Kathleen Campbell, Linda Rosso, and Diane Pannkuk.

The featured speaker was Laura Givertz, founder of Fibula Jewelry and our Eden by the Sea’s own pearl doyenne, who divides her time between her shop in our rarefied enclave and its sister boutique on Deer Isle, Maine. With warmth and wit, Givertz traced pearls through the centuries – from the tears of Venus in Roman mythology to the mysterious “orient” luster prized by ancient civilizations.

“Beauty is a bridge,” she reflected. “A bridge to the beauty of who we are becoming.”

Guests listened, utterly captivated, as Givertz described pearls as the only gemstone born from a living creature – formed slowly through irritation, patience, and transformation.

“Like pearls, we are shaped over time,” she observed. “We are always becoming more of who we are meant to be.”

Among those attending were Marianne Strange, Brenda Blalock, Alix Rabinowitz, Peggy Wiley, Hiroko Benko, Ruth Rubin, Dana Mancini, Annie Hoffman, Patricia Chidlaw, and Nancy Newquist-Nolan, who departed with an elegant pearl bracelet – proof that the afternoon’s lessons were not entirely academic.

A little wisdom, a little luster, and a very fine afternoon indeed.