Okay...we have the skin of the Doomsday Machine, then we have diamonds, then we have the stuff the neutral zone outposts were made of...well..which one of these is ACTUALLY the hardest known substance?? Or are there even MORE nominees I didn't mention that are acutally the correct answer? Rob Scorpio
Potential mentions of pearls in Trek: Cyrano Jones Harry Mudd Ferengi traders I think it would be VERY odd if the word "pearl" never actually appeared in any Trek. I bet it is hard to find too many common nouns that never appeared in Trek. Pearls were commonly worn in the 60's, surely some Trek-Lady is seen with pearls at some point? Of course that is not an actual mention of pearls. Spotting pearls and hearing the word "pearl(s)" are separate matters. I am going to start a thread about this very interesting topic.
Hmmm..have pearls ever been mentioned in TOS...will be interesting to see what our friends find...I am racking my brain now... Rob
I could see the old "casting pearls before swine" adage being said by Kirk or McCoy. I'm not saying it WAS said, but if anyone said it, it seems likely to have been one of them or a guest star.
Pearl Harbor is mentioned in both the TNG episode "The Enemy" and the Voyager episode "The 37s". Probably not as direct a reference as you were looking for, but the harbor was named for the fact that until the 1800s, it contained a large number of pearl-producing oysters. So more directly , Montgomery Scott referred to the parable of The Pearl of Great Price when told of Gem and the Vians, and compared Gem to the pearl, in the TOS episode "The Empath". I like the Prince song, too. As regards the OP - you forgot neutronium.
Okay I Googled "pearl" in Memory Alpha. After removing some movie titles (found in crewmembers' filmography) from the search, I managed to find a couple references. If you want any better, find a script archive and search it. CANON: Lwaxanna has pearl curtains in "Haven". The Aenars' costumes featured pearls. NON-CANON: There's a Pearl-class in the "Federation Ship Recognition Manual", role-playing supplement. The Federation fleet is stationed/massacred in the Pearl Nebula in the game "Star Trek: Armada II".