It’s well-known that if you’re going to ride in a New Orleans Mardi Gras parade, you’re going to sink some money into your throws. But one particular tossed souvenir from this year’s Carnival season might be worth a lot more than just Mardi Gras memories.
That’s because one member of Carnival 2022’s reigning royalty wanted to bring a bit of his personal stock-and-trade to the parade route. French Quarter master jeweler Franco Valobra will be mixing 100 strands of genuine pearls in with his throws when he rides the route as the King of Hermes Friday night.
“The king wants to show to all of the revelers, that Mardi Gras is rare and valuable to all of us, for our tradition, for our economy, for everything else,” Valobra told WWL-TV.
The owner and president of Valobra Jewelry, which has stores in Houston and Switzerland as well as the Crescent City, said the pearls are “double-A quality, 10 to 12 millimeters round, perfect matched with high luster, and knotted in-between,” according to WWL-TV’s reporting. Some are opera-length strands measuring 54 inches, while other strands are even bigger, measuring 72 inches.
Retail value of each strand of pearls is in the vicinity of $1,500.
“These are going to be hand out to people along the route to let them know this Mardi Gras is here to stay, no matter what. No hurricane, no pandemic, no crisis will stop Mardi Gras,” Valobra said about his generous float handouts.
So if you do catch some beads Friday night, definitely take a closer look before you chuck them out on Ash Wednesday.
Hermes rolls along the Uptown New Orleans route Friday night at 5:30p.m.
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