Â鶹Éç

Available for over a year

Writer Victoria Finlay tries to recreate in the studio the story of Egyptian queen Cleopatra and her priceless pearl earring. Cleopatra, so the story goes, made a bet with her lover Mark Antony that she would out-spend him on a dinner: she is said to have dissolved her large pearl in wine or vinegar and drunk it. But can this really work? Here are the first two stages of the experiment, with presenter Bridget Kendall and jewellery historian Beatriz Chadour-Sampson. If you want to know what happened at the final, third stage please listen to the complete programme. Photo: Three stages of a small pearl dissolving during the studio recording (Shan Pillay/Â鶹Éç)