A jewelry item that today's working women might take for granted, a 16-inch strand of perhaps 50 pearls, often costs between $500 and $5,000. At the height of the Roman Empire, when pearl fever ...

A single South Sea pearl can cost $1,500, and a necklace can reach over $200,000. So, how are these pearls grown? And what makes them so expensive? More from Retail South Sea pearls are the ...