The La Peregrina pearl is one of the most famous pearls in the world. Its owners include the Spanish monarchs, the history of the pearl spans almost 500 years and recently belonged to actress Elizabeth Taylor. The jewel is now in private ownership.

A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other shapes, known as baroque pearls, can occur. The finest quality of natural pearls have been highly valued as gemstones and objects of beauty for many centuries. Because of this, pearl has become a metaphor for something rare, fine, admirable and valuable.