Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen if Rachel wears pearls to her wedding. At least that’s what she implies in episode two of the popular Netflix horror series.

When Nicky’s mum asks Rachel to wear her great-grandmother’s pearls at her wedding, she insists the “something borrowed” must come from the mother in order to ward off bad luck in a marriage.

Rachel seems taken aback by this request, saying she’s “pretty sure pearls are bad luck for a wedding,” but proceeds to let Mrs. Cunningham place the pearls on her neck anyway.

It’s a very foreboding moment, as something awful does happen at Rachel and Nicky’s wedding. But do the pearls have anything to do with it, and is it actually bad luck to wear them to weddings in real life?

Is it bad luck to wear pearls on your wedding day?

Rachel’s belief that it is bad luck to wear pearls on your wedding hasn’t come from nowhere. According to Country House Weddings, the superstition likely originated in ancient Rome, where pearls were worn at funerals to symbolise grief.

In English folklore, pearls represent tears, and it was therefore believed that if a bride wore pearls to her wedding, she’d cry throughout her marriage.

Does it matter if the wedding pearls are real or fake?

via Netflix

In Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen, Mrs. Cunningham asks Rachel to rub the pearls against her teeth to see if they are fake. If the pearls feel rough, they’re real. If they feel smooth, they’re fake.

After rubbing the pearls against her tooth, Rachel concludes they’re definitely real. But, as it so happens, this might not actually be that bad.

It is a traditional belief that smoother, rounder pearls are more likely to be a bad omen for marriage. As a result, a smooth fake pearl might have been worse luck for Rachel to wear at her wedding than the rough, genuine string Mrs. Cunningham gave her.