Posted on 01/30/2005 2:31:56 PM PST by wagglebee
Legend has it the so-called Pearl of Allah was created as a symbol of peace 2,500 years ago in ancient China. To Victor Barbish, the 14-pound gem has been nothing but a big headache.
The football-sized grayish lump has been tied to enough greed, drama and intrigue to rival any Agatha Christie mystery, including two contract killings and a court fight that ended with one of the largest jury awards of its type in Colorado history.
"It draws the wrong type of people," said Barbish, the pearl's majority owner who lives in Colorado Springs. "It's only a pearl. It has a nice history. It was made to do something good, apparently, but what it's been drawing, it's been terrible."
Barbish says he kept the pearl in a Denver bank vault and a series of safe deposit boxes over the years, but he won't disclose its present location, even though he'd like to unload the gem to a museum or library.
How the pearl wound up in Colorado is quite a tale - an extraordinary one, if the rumors are to be believed. It is purportedly a former amulet of Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu, who is said to have carved his face and those of Confucius and Buddha into its surface. It was then planted in successively larger clams for generations; the convolutions on its surface resemble a human brain.
According to legend, the pearl was lost in a shipwreck centuries ago, then found in 1934 off Palawan Island in the Philippines by a diver who drowned when he reached into a huge clam to take it. The clam and the diver were pulled to shore and the island's chief, a Muslim who named the pearl, took possession.
About five years later, Wilburn Dowell Cobb saved the life of the chief's son and was given the pearl in gratitude. Cobb's heirs sold it in 1980 for $200,000 to Beverly Hills jeweler Peter Hoffman, who in turn sold part ownership to Barbish.
The two men formed the now-defunct World's Largest Pearl Co. Inc. in California and raised money by selling interests in the pearl to investors including Joe Bonicelli.
This is where the history turns bloody.
The pearl is now part of the largest wrongful-death judgment in Colorado history after a jury recently awarded $32.4 million to Bonicelli's adult children, who sued over the 1975 death of their mother in a contract killing.
After Bonicelli's death in 1998, police said they determined that the decades-old killing was done at his behest.
His children want the pearl sold so they can be paid the settlement they won against their father's estate. They plan to use the money to establish a foundation in their mother's name to help abused women and children, said their lawyer, Richard Tegtmeier.
Bonicelli left his estate to his youngest daughter, whom he fathered with his second wife. Neither her attorney nor Phillips' attorney returned calls.
Appraisers have valued the pearl at up to $60 million, Tegtmeier said.
He said further court action will be necessary to determine how his clients will receive their money - but it will have to include selling the pearl.
Barbish just wants to be rid of it, but on his terms.
"We are donating that pearl," he said. "We don't want the money for it. We want it to go to a charity for everybody to see and view, either a museum or a presidential library."
GGG Ping
What? No pearl picture?
Bin Laden tried to but the pearl and give it to Saddam Hussein.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41170
and inside is a pearl that looks like a melon bread that looks like a brain....
Cobb's heirs sold it in 1980 for $200,000 to Beverly Hills jeweler Peter Hoffman, who in turn sold part ownership to Barbish.
The two men formed the now-defunct World's Largest Pearl Co. Inc. in California and raised money by selling interests in the pearl to investors including Joe Bonicelli.
This is where the history turns bloody.
The pearl is now part of the largest wrongful-death judgment in Colorado history after a jury recently awarded $32.4 million to Bonicelli's adult children, who sued over the 1975 death of their mother in a contract killing.
______________________________________________________________________________
This doesn't track.
If Bonicelli didn't get involved until 1980, how could the owners be involved in a contract killing of his mother in 1975??
Kinda makes one say Huh?
Do clams live to be "several hundred years"?
2500 years ago....1100 years before Muhammad started that Allah stuff. Interesting
I dunno. "It was then planted in successively larger clams for generations."
A 14 lb pearl that looks like a human brain? Charming.
And that thing's supposed to be worth $60 million? It's not like you could wear it, or would want to.:)
Eww. Hideous.
Isn't the actual value of this pearl, well, nil? There's nothing inherently valuable about pearls, it's about their beauty, and this thing isn't beautiful. As a novelty or museum attraction, maybe it has value, but it's not something to kill for!
Oh my! It looks like Johnny Kerry..................
Or is that an ape i see..............
Why go through all that work and then stick the thing back into a buncha other bivalves...without killing them...for "generations"? And don't oysters make better pearls anyhow?
"According to legend, the pearl was lost in a shipwreck centuries ago, then found in 1934 off Palawan Island in the Philippines by a diver who drowned when he reached into a huge clam to take it."
The actual value is whatever price people are willing to pay for it, and apparently, there are people willing to squander millions on it. Cubic zirconia is just as pretty as a diamond... but people get diamonds because they are a status symbol, and not necessarily for their beauty... and the perl is a pretty big status symbol.
The clinton Library receives its first side show artifact. Can the dog faced boy be far behind?
But nobody would know that's a pearl if you don't tell them. It's a really stupid status symbol, is what I'm saying. I know the appeal of gems as much as any other woman, and yes, big and flashy is one part of it, but the main thing about gems is that you're not supposed to have to tell people what the heck they are.
I'm sure there are plenty of people willing to squabble over this monstrosity, and that's fine, I just don't get it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.