Counch pearl

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hello Everyone

One of our customer is looking for a counch pearl. Has anybody out
there heard of such a pearl?

Can some one please guide me where i can find it? Please feel free
to contact me off the list also.

Thanks to everyone in advance

Anil Gupta
krisgems@aol.com

2 
    One of our customer is looking for a counch pearl. Has anybody
out there heard of such a pearl?

Hi Anil. Conch “pearls” are not true pearls, but are non-nacreous
calcareous concretions. They are formed by the Queen conch, Strombus
gigas, a single-shelled mollusk found in the Caribbean Sea. They
occur in pink, orange, and combinations of the two, and often have a
flame structure that is very attractive. Be prepared to pay a LOT of
money for one of these that has fine color and shape.

If you do a Google search on the Internet with the correct spelling,
“conch pearl”, you will find several sources. Good luck.

James in SoFl

3

Anil, I think they are looking for a conch pearl. They are
non-cultured, and hard to come by. Here is a link-

http://www.beyars.com/en/en_conch-pearl.html

Lee Einer
Dos Manos Jewelry
http://www.dosmanosjewelry.com

4

Anil,

The Conch Pearl is created in a Conch shell and actually is not a
true Pearl since it does not have a nacreous luster.

The most common color of the Conch pearl is Pink but in general the
Conch Pearl is not common at all.

Most Conch Pearls in the Past have been found in the warm waters off
of the southern U. S. as well as the Bahamas.

Since this is not a common pearl I do believe you may have a hard
time locating one in a short period of time. You may want to try a
few of the smaller specialty Pearl dealers as well as some that deal
in Natural Pearls. If you have access to the JCK or National Jeweler
Directories that would be a good place to start.

Good Luck
Greg DeMark
Longmont, Colorado
email: greg@demarkjewelry.com
Website: www.demarkjewelry.com
Custom Jewelry - Handmade Jewelry - Antique Jewelry

5

One helpful thing would be: “conch” pearl is what I think you’re
after. It’s a mollusc I believe. Perhaps someone (a conch) in Key
West could be more helpful.

Kevin Kelly

6

Hello, American Pearl over in Tennessee had some for sale last year
at the Tucson show. they are reather pricey. Small baroques about 6mm
long and 4mm wide were $600. Large ones are very much more.

Good luck Dennis

7

You may also want to consider some of the reasons not to purchase
one if you can find it.

http://www.jewelrygenius.com/conchpearls.html

B’Shalom,
Bekka

8

Hi Mr. Anil Gupta,

Re: counch pearl, it looks like pink coral, however it is pearl.
MIKIMOTO promote it about 8 years ago. There are not much quantity
in the market and the price is high.

Best regards, Yasu Matsuda
KOBE PRECIOUS PEARL & CO., LTD.
website: http://www.portnet.ne.jp/~kobe-p-p/homee.htm
e-mail: @kobe-precious-pearl
Tel: 81-78-242-0003 Fax: 81-78-242-3455

9

I knew I had seen a Gems & Gemology article on conch shells only I
didn’t realize how long ago that was. The Winter 1987, Vol. 23, No.
4 issue has a cover story on conch pearls by Emmanuel Fritsch and
Elise B. Misiorowski. The cover of the magazine shows a beautiful
necklace and a pair of earrings with conch pearls. There are
photos, history of conch pearls in jewelry, biology of the Strombus
Gigas mollusk and its fisheries, gemology and a bibliography in the
magazine. You can probably contact GIA for a reprint or possibly a
back issue.

HTH,
Donna Shimazu

10

I agree with Mona - it definitely seems that there is something a bit
fishy going on there. Perhaps the author is concerned about mass
poaching of conchs for these pearls? It is quite possible that the
color of the conch pearls might fade if the pearls were constantly
exposed to bright sulight - after all, even the most colorful shells
will fade in the harsh conditions of a beach. However, it seems
likely that such conditions would damage any kind of pearl or organic
gem, and customers should know that all such gems require a little
care.

Thanks for the link to allnaturalpearls.com! I especially loved the
abalone pearls - sooo delicious - too bad I can’t even think of
affording them sniff.

Cheers,

Jessee Smith
www.silverspotstudio.com
Cincinnati, Ohio