36 Little Emperors by Bruna Hauert

Necklace / Figurative

Published: 15.07.2026

(The one and only true story of the 36 vanished pearls from the treasury of the last Emperor of China)

“Puyi, the last Emperor of China, lost us in May 1921 during a game of Mah-Jongg to the Dutch anthropologist Eugène Dubois. Dubois hid us in an unassuming little jute pouch, inside a casket tucked between skull amulets of Gigantopithecus Blacky (an extinct genus of great ape) and various other odds and ends. Thus, under cover of darkness, he smuggled us through a secret tunnel out of the Forbidden City.
On the journey to Europe, Dubois’ ship was attacked by pirates — and for us began a long voyage through the turbulences of world history.
How we eventually ended up with Bruna Hauert in Zurich? A long story — and a closely guarded secret. Let’s just say this: we changed owners as others change hats, survived mothballs and multiple relocations, accompanied Amelia Earhart on her flight across the Atlantic, reclined on Freud’s couch, and in 1964 were nearly gifted to a world heavyweight boxing champion.

For the past seven years, we rested in our little pouch in the expansive dressing room of the world-famous opera star Luciano Domingo in Verona. Luciano — heroic tenor, heartbreaker, and, as it later turned out, distantly related to Bruna Hauert. Bruna’s maternal grandmother was the half-sister of the cousin of the former gardener of Luciano’s mother — practically family.

When Luciano drifted away last year with his final aria on his lips, Bruna was invited by his lawyers to choose a keepsake from his estate. She did not select the diamond-studded cufflinks (a mere 35 carats), nor the walking stick with the solid-gold bat’s head and built-in whisky compartment — no! She chose the humble jute pouch containing the 36 inconspicuous pearls and the skull amulets. She chose us — perhaps already envisioning her next jewellery project.

How did Bruna know who we were, where we came from? Some suspect a vision while consulting the yarrow oracle of the I Ching. Others believe she poured molten silver into freshly cut fennel halves and read our origins in the shapes that formed. Or perhaps she discovered the hidden compartment in the lid of the casket and found the receipt bearing the seal of the last Emperor of China.

Be that as it may — though rather delicate in appearance — we proved quite a challenge for Bruna. The considerable weight of world history slumbering within us commanded her respect.

Bruna has promised to keep our origins confidential. And so we now travel rather simply — without dragon robes, throne, or gong. Our entire court consists of Blacky and his entourage. We are merely a few little emperors, setting off incognito on a new adventure, politely silent about our past.
As true royals do.”