What symbolizes the 30th wedding anniversary? You may have heard of a diamond anniversary or maybe a silver anniversary, but somewhere between the surprise of being married 10 years and the miracle of being married 50 years, there is also the pearl anniversary. If you are looking for 30th anniversary gift ideas, this is your place. In this blog we’ll make a case that pearls are the perfect gift to celebrate a 30th anniversary because of the sustainability, beauty, the tropical pedigree of ocean pearls, as well as the tradition that goes back to the Victorian Age.
As far back in history as ancient China pearls had cultural symbolism. They're associated with beauty, purity, wisdom, and elegance. Pearls are the Audrey Hepburn of gems. Pearls are unique among gemstones because they're renewable and not mined out of the earth. Pearls are formed by living organisms: oysters. Oysters coat the interior of their shells with a smooth, iridescent, opalescent material called nacre which is the same stuff that makes a pearl. The interior of the shell is called “mother of pearl”. Mother of pearl has the same light-throwing qualities as a pearl and makes beautiful jewelry, ideal for 30th anniversary pearl gifts.
You need a lot of patience to cultivate a pearl. It takes years for an oyster to produce. This long wait makes pearls precious and underscores their symbolic association with wisdom. Pearls embody qualities like rarity, patience, wisdom, and beauty. This lines up with a 30th anniversary that is made of decades of commitment, and shared experiences.
It was the Victorians in England (1837 to 1901) who became enchanted by symbolism, sentimentality, and romanticism and commercialized these qualities. They assigned themes and materials to each anniversary year. Pearls became linked to the 30th wedding anniversary.
In early 20th century American popular culture there was a resurgence of interest in traditional gift-giving practices. Magazines, books, and popular publications reached back to Victorian ideas. With the rise of media and egged on by the jewelry industry, we have the tradition of associating gemstones with the zodiac and with wedding anniversaries. Here are the other traditional gift associations designated to different anniversary years.
1st Anniversary: Paper
2nd Anniversary: Cotton
3rd Anniversary: Leather
4th Anniversary: Fruit or Flowers
5th Anniversary: Wood
6th Anniversary: Iron
7th Anniversary: Wool or Copper
8th Anniversary: Bronze
9th Anniversary: Pottery or Willow
10th Anniversary: Tin or Aluminum
11th Anniversary: Steel
12th Anniversary: Silk or Linen
13th Anniversary: Lace
14th Anniversary: Ivory
15th Anniversary: Crystal
20th Anniversary: China
25th Anniversary: Silver
30th Anniversary: Pearl
35th Anniversary: Coral or Jade
40th Anniversary: Ruby
45th Anniversary: Sapphire
50th Anniversary: Gold
55th Anniversary: Emerald
60th Anniversary: Diamond
65th Anniversary: Blue Sapphire
70th Anniversary: Platinum
75th Anniversary: Diamond or Gold
We are all for tradition, but today a 30th wedding anniversary gift shouldn't mean restringing Grandma's pearl strand. At Roseate Jewelry we are inspired by modern pearl design and by the little-known sustainability of pearls. Our designs are based on ocean pearls made by the largest oysters in the world, the white lipped oyster from the western coast of Australia and the black lipped oyster from the Tuamotu Archipelago a French Polynesia. These are fantastically remote and beautiful tropical places with year-round sun, chalk-white beaches, electric green water, and crazy vibrant wildlife. Seasnakes? Sharks? Saltwater crocodiles? They are all here.
The ocean pearls we feature are different than the pearls most people are familiar with. They're bigger, coming from bigger oysters, and they take a long time to grow. They require pristine environmental conditions. Ocean oysters improve environmental conditions by filtering out sediments and impurities as they feed on microorganisms.
Most people think of pearls as perfectly round, but only a few grow this way. Most pearls are oval drop-shaped or button-shaped. They can be “baroque” shaped which is a beautiful, flowing, irregular shape that looks surprising and beautiful in jewelry. The surprising shapes of cultivated pearls give a lot of room for new, fresh designs that delight our customers.
And the colors! Pearls from the white lipped oyster are white or cream or silver. The black-lipped oyster - growing what is known as black Tahitian pearls - makes gray, green, purple, and black pearls. The shades of color are mysterious and the opalescent throw of light is magical.
Ocean pearl farming is remarkably sustainable. We have visited these far-off places to see for ourselves how everything is reused and how ecological conservation is lived. To us, the magic and beauty of pearls are emphasized by the tropical lushness and purity of their origin, and the sustainability of their production. Our design emblem is the ecological water drop which repeats as a motif in our jewelry.
What symbolizes the 30th wedding anniversary? It’s a beautiful pearl. What better pedigree could there be than the ocean pearl to celebrate a 30th anniversary gift? This jewelry incorporates exotic tropical color and purity. It stands for wisdom and patience and the graceful, timeless beauty of nature.
