mussel pearls

[scallop007]

hi pearl people; The more i cruise this site the more i'm learning ,lol i was on the beach the other day and picked up 48 pearls from mussels they are way nicer looking than scallop pearls(my experience)they are purple,blue, pink,white and a silver one, mixed with them are lighter colors (ex baby blue) i have a couple questions: 1 how small is too small ?.2) does retreving the pearls from mussels that have been cooked effect the finish or the hardness of them? i will try to post a picture of them, thanks ,, 007

 

[Valeria101]

... picked up 48 pearls from mussels they are way nicer looking than scallop pearls...

Wow! That's allot of pearls!

how small is too small ?

For what? Pearls down to 1mm diameter are drilled and used in various ways (search for 'seed pearl'). Size matters, but there's hardly 'too small' to use in jewelry somehow.

At 5mm natural pearls start to stand on their own. 10mm is large for most types. very general and imprecise said w/o knowing what I those pearls are - some kinds are common large if the shell they come from is large too (say, melo pearls).

does retrieving the pearls from mussels that have been cooked effect the finish or the hardness of them?

Yes... and not in a good way. (as far as I know from the grapevine - never occurred to me to try pearl scalding! One more bit of controlled pearl destruction to try ).


My 2c.

I will try to post a picture of them

Please do Whatever size, color or quality, natural pearls are at the very least interesting. Fingers crossed for them pictures!

 

[scallop007]

thanks Valeria: 1 mm thats small to me. 48 pearls is not alot, living where i do.never went looking before. in one tide its possible to get a hundred, get in the right spot. the dead shells on the beach shows signs of pearl making. now i have to refine my hunting to old beds.the older harder looking shells have the best pearls. their are millions of mussels here. going to watch the moon for the high tides so the big mussels will show when the tide leave them (pencil eracer) ones now is what i'm looking for. i guess cooking them could be out, lol. our tides are 30 feet or more in places in the bay of fundy the tide runs out along ways from shore. makes it good for pearling ,,,, thanks 007
ps. got those 48 in about an hour and a half.

 

[Valeria101]

Man! That's 'peal planet' you are writing from.

Pictures, please

One with a shell is good too. Can't believe it!

 

[pattye]

Can't even imagine the JOY at being able to pick them up on the beach!!! In any size!! Please post photos!!

Pattye

 

[Caitlin]

Hi
I apppreciate your posting here. You are onto something. You appear to be in an area that is producing a lot of NATURAL mussel pearls. These are special no matter how small and the large ones will command some cash. Let me put in my vote for your pictures. It would be a great service to this forum if you also took some pictures on site, where these guys grow. There really is not much pearling in rivers for natural pearls anymore. In many areas, the mussel population is small and weak. It is a sign of the health of the bear river- is that where you got them? that they are growing and producing pearls.

We had a teenager last year who stepped on a mussel and picked it up and it had a 7mm purple pearl in it- which he promptly gave to his girl of the moment. sigh. Anyway the shell had a purple iridescent lining. The mussels of North America produce a wide variety of natural colors and I love to hear stories such as yours.

Don't cook them first, if you want to retain the quality of the pearls!

 

[jshepherd]

I get the feeling we do not all have the same definition of 'pearl' here. What am I missing here? What are you really picking up? Shell?

 

[perlas]

Unless there is a rampant disease among the mussels, i can't imagine so much pearls in one hunt. What is the specie of the mussel?

 

[scallop007]

I get the feeling we do not all have the same definition of 'pearl' here. What am I missing here? What are you really picking up? Shell?

we may not sir: but the shells are a cool purple and some are blue on the inside but the pearls i'm talking about are in them, alot are stuck to the shells had one the other day that had maybe 15 molded right in the shell they are small.

 

[scallop007]

Hi
I apppreciate your posting here. You are onto something. You appear to be in an area that is producing a lot of NATURAL mussel pearls. These are special no matter how small and the large ones will command some cash. Let me put in my vote for your pictures. It would be a great service to this forum if you also took some pictures on site, where these guys grow. There really is not much pearling in rivers for natural pearls anymore. In many areas, the mussel population is small and weak. It is a sign of the health of the bear river- is that where you got them? that they are growing and producing pearls.

We had a teenager last year who stepped on a mussel and picked it up and it had a 7mm purple pearl in it- which he promptly gave to his girl of the moment. sigh. Anyway the shell had a purple iridescent lining. The mussels of North America produce a wide variety of natural colors and I love to hear stories such as yours.

Don't cook them first, if you want to retain the quality of the pearls!

thanks Caitlin: mussels you cannot harvest from the beach up here they claim to have psp (shellfish poisoning) but there no law about opening them up right there. over the years i seen some huge ones 8-10 mm bright purple and said "thats cool " and threw them out with the shells the mussels were great to eat,,, the beds of mussels here are acres of them most are clean of pearls but in the ponds left by the tide seems to have the most in them ,007 ps i'll try to get you a picture of the beach and show a mussel opened with the pearls still in them.

 

[scallop007]

Unless there is a rampant disease among the mussels, i can't imagine so much pearls in one hunt. What is the specie of the mussel?

ok ,lol this science thing : perlas; the name of those mussels are"Mytilus Edulis" whatever that means,lol but there may be other kinds as well some have red shells on the outside, orange meat inside,some are blue and have white meat .thats all we used to go by, some people like the red mussels better for eating ,the blue or black ones are typical aquacultured type. all have pearls .007 Oh ,,, pearls started from sand no doubt

 

[scallop007]

To Pattye and Valeria:::: I will get your pictures on for you after this snowstorms over, brrrrrrrrr ,lol weather too bad for on the beach but spring's coming thank heaven's ,, see ya, 007

 

[Caitlin]

Hi All
Check this site out. Pictures of Bear River Nova Scotia. Is this where you live 007, or near there?

This does not look like an area that has been commercially exploited for freshweater pearls, so my imagination taks me to a time when rivers in America yeilded up such treasures, lying on the banks and eddies, even- though I would guess that much exposure to the elements would make the shells and pearls chalky.

I saw a picture somewhere, where there was a pile of empty mussels shells of all brilliant colors. They had been eaten by a racoon, so any pearls would have been left with the shell.

Actually from your description, it looks like there was an intrusive threat that caused so many mussels to exhibit so many pearl types- so many struck to the shell etc.

Even if it takes some concentration and energy, some more facts about your home area and mussel hunting etc in your area, family, whatever, become important snippets of history- windows into time- but we do need pix. Maybe you have a firend with a camera?

I t may be cold out, but if you have any pearls from your ventures, give us a post with pix, will ya? We do look forward to some Spring pictures though....

Thanks

 

[scallop007]

Hi All
Check this site out. Pictures of Bear River Nova Scotia. Is this where you live 007, or near there?

This does not look like an area that has been commercially exploited for freshweater pearls, so my imagination taks me to a time when rivers in America yeilded up such treasures, lying on the banks and eddies, even- though I would guess that much exposure to the elements would make the shells and pearls chalky.

I saw a picture somewhere, where there was a pile of empty mussels shells of all brilliant colors. They had been eaten by a racoon, so any pearls would have been left with the shell.

Actually from your description, it looks like there was an intrusive threat that caused so many mussels to exhibit so many pearl types- so many struck to the shell etc.

Even if it takes some concentration and energy, some more facts about your home area and mussel hunting etc in your area, family, whatever, become important snippets of history- windows into time- but we do need pix. Maybe you have a firend with a camera?

I t may be cold out, but if you have any pearls from your ventures, give us a post with pix, will ya? We do look forward to some Spring pictures though....

Thanks

yep right place ,,Caitlin you've been doing your home work too i see,lol, bear with me i'll get you some nice pictures,007

 

[scallop007]

yep right place ,,Caitlin you've been doing your home work too i see,lol, bear with me i'll get you some nice pictures,007

,,, oh ps salt water where the fresh water is up the river there is no sign of life just striped bass huge ones 15-65 lbs try one of those on a rod and reel ,lol thanks

 

[pierrettedE]

well well, howdy ho neighbour! I live in Yarmouth county, NS. For those of you doubting... these are your regular Atantic blue mussels and they do yield quite a few 'pearls'.

"I get the feeling we do not all have the same definition of 'pearl' here. What am I missing here? What are you really picking up? Shell?"

Concretions. Usually, very small, very dark, purple-black seed-shaped concretions. The are usually very flat in colour and almost chalky (Do they ever become annoying after 2-3 in a steam).

So why and how so many? I'm not sure either.. The locals seem to think they start with silty-sand particles though this should not be the case, correct?. Sometimes there are more and in some areas, of course. Some people around here (South-West Nova Scotia, Canada) have small collections of these. Many fine ones have undoubtedly been trashed over the years. They are generally looked at as a bother (and a pain in the teeth).

There are a very few mussel farmers in the area and I've been meaning to go about and ask them about finding pearls... and if they've noticed any sort of trend... in years, temperature changes, pollution etc...

There are also many many full circulation, nice salt water tank houses here... and the fishery is slowing ... makes me wonder about possibilities...

 

[scallop007]

hey SW Nova,, i'm right on the tricounty line ,lol yep lots of pearls in the mussels and they nodoubt have a finish like you explained because they have been cooked ,i've seen some thats been cooked ,,no good ,the ones coming from live mussels are way shiner and harder and have more luster i'm going to the islands and have a look around, found 48 the other day in the basin ,just little fellows ,lol catch ya later,, 007

 

[Ashley]

Hi All,

Sounds like you're having a great time picking up all those pearls!! Have you formed any plans as to what you're going to do with them?
By the way, I found some great photographs online of the blue mussel, as well as some pearl shots, so everyone can have a better idea of what they look like... Enjoy!
http://www.arkive.org/species/ARK/invertebrates_marine/Mytilus_edulis/ARK008173.html?size=medium

 

[pierrettedE]

hi Ashley. Thanks. I have lots of scallop pearls but no mussel pearls (Yes, I have thrown a couple away... they were just so so tiny and dark and ugly and ... painful...maybe i was angry with them ). That's exactly what they look like.

Keeping in mind that most of the shells -common and dug for food- are around 2-2.5 inches from top to bottom and the 'pearls' shown are bigger and lighter than the ones I've seen... They're still rather small.

I'm not sure how much damage the steaming does. That's a question ? They cook really fast. Put in a bain marie -just steam- but usually just in a small bottom of rapid boiling water. As soon as the shells open (1-2min) they're done and removed from the heat.

So, at -26 celcius I want to go to the shore line and dig me some mussels! I'm familiar with scallop007 (double 0 7, gotcha ha) area but have never dug for clams or mussels there. Maybe i should...

 

[Slraep]

Hello fellow martimers PierretteD and Scallop007!

I live in PEI half of the year near St. Peters Lake. Actually, Lakeside Beach. Been to Nova Scotia many times--love it. The Cabot Trail should be on everybody's vacation trajectory.

There are so many common blue mussel beds in PEI, too. I recently sent Caitlin some pics. Maybe she can trim them and post here(please).

I'll be looking out for the pearls. The mussels will have had to be expired already, for me to pick through them. I just can't bring myself to open any live ones. Healthy mussel beds are a thing of great beauty and the husband and myself usually do some very fancy footwork in order not to step on any of the inhabitants. A bunch of baby mussels stuck to a rock at low tide, sunning themselves, is one of the cutest things you will ever see...


Slraep