There is an old superstition among sailors that pearls calm the sea. Whether or not the sea has been listening, we cannot say. What we can say is that pearls and salt air have a relationship as old as the Indian Ocean trade, and that nowhere is this more visible than at the Royal Cape Yacht Club on a regatta morning.
Cape Town’s sailing calendar is busier than most people imagine. The Mykonos Offshore. The Lipton Cup. The various charity races that fill the V&A Waterfront with the noise of halyards and the smell of teak polish. Pearls attend all of them, though they often arrive in pockets and only appear once the wind has dropped.
Why Pearls and the Sea Belong
Saltwater pearls, by their nature, are products of the ocean. To wear them by the sea is to return them, briefly, to the temperature and the light in which they were made. There is a quiet rightness to it that nothing else in the jewellery box can match.
Tahitian pearls, with their deep grey body colour and faint green and peacock overtones, are particularly at home against the blues of Table Bay. South Sea pearls, in their cream and gold, photograph beautifully against a teak deck or a navy gansey.
The sea made the pearl. It is only borrowing it back.
What to Wear on the Water
Practicality is non-negotiable on a boat. Long strands tangle in lines and winch handles. Drop earrings find their way overboard. Our advice is to keep things close to the body.
A pair of medium South Sea studs. A pearl ring set in 18ct gold, low profile. A short, knotted Akoya choker that disappears under a Breton stripe and reappears when you take off the windbreaker for lunch at the Yacht Club.
After the Race
The clubhouse at the Royal Cape Yacht Club is one of the more underrated rooms in the country. Trophy cases lit by afternoon sun. A bar that has heard worse stories than yours. The pearl that came aboard at six in the morning has now been on you for fourteen hours, and it has earned the gin and tonic it is about to keep you company for.
We have a small client base of sailing women who keep a dedicated sea strand. It lives in a separate box, gets a fresh-water rinse after every regatta, and is restrung every three years. We are happy to advise on care.
