I found a purple pearl in a clam I was eating-The Quahog Thread

In 2005 she started a quarter million dollar craze for a pearl worth a few thousand (if that). Since that time this forum's contact us page has been inundated with emails from people who have found a purple pearl and are hoping to cash in. It has been great for the quahog pearl business if you are selling, tough if you are buying - a lot of hopes and fantasies have been dashed since.

The Purple Pearl of Newport wowing the crowds"
By BRYAN ROURKE
The Providence Journal
March 22, 2005
The Purple Pearl went West and wowed the jewelry world.
The rare, enormous and potentially priceless purple quahog pearl acquired for $14 from a costume-jewelry basket in 2000 by Alan Golash of Newport, R.I., has begun its global publicity tour. When that ends at auction in about two years, experts say, the gem could command more than $1 million.
Early indications are encouraging.
Last month, Antoinette Matlins of Woodstock, Vt., author of "The Pearl Book: The Definitive Buying Guide" and keeper of Golash's find, attended the Tucson International Gem Show. It's the world's largest gem show, lasting two weeks and involving more than two-dozen jewelry organizations.
"Anybody and everybody from a gem-producing land was there," Matlins said.
The Purple Pearl was there, too, making its official debut.
"Everyone at the table went 'wooo,' " said Robert Weldon, senior writer at Professional Jeweler Magazine. "The reaction was certainly positive. Regardless of what it is, it's certainly an item of rarity."
The Purple Pearl isn't technically a pearl. Gemologists say pearls must come from an oyster or a mussel. Quahogs, however, are also capable of producing them, though rarely. Quahogs are thick-shelled edible clams.
"There's a handful of quahog pearls out there," said Gina Latendresse, president of the American Pearl Company in Nashville, Tenn. "That makes them very interesting and very rare. I don't know what will come of it."
According to Matlins, the jewelry industry's three largest magazines are all writing articles about the Purple Pearl. The Smithsonian Institute is considering including it in its "Natural Pearls" exhibit. The American Museum of Natural History is also reportedly interested in exhibiting it. And the SSEF Swiss Gemological Association is now conducting a scientific study on it, with a report expected next month.
Golash's partner, who wishes to remain anonymous, bought a brooch from a basket of costume jewelry at a former antiques shop in 2000. His partner recognized that the brooch was made of gold, Golash said, paid $14 for it and brought it home.
Golash, who professionally restores antique jewelry, cleaned the brooch, and verified it was made of 18-karat gold, enamel and three small rose-cut diamonds. Based on its construction and Victorian styling, it's believed to have been created between 1850 and 1875.
However, the brooch's most notable features are two purple pearls. Both are all-natural, not cultured with an implanted bead, as is the modern practice. And one of the pearls is huge, 14 millimeters, about twice the size of average rare natural pearls.
What makes this pearl even rarer is that it's purple. That's because it comes from a quahog, which doesn't often produce pearls, but when it does, purple's the color.
"No one knows what its value is," Matlins said. "Everyone (at the Tucson show) agreed it wasn't unreasonable to expect $250,000 without any promotion to make the world aware of it. And these are gemologists who are notoriously conservative."
Golash's pearl is insured, but Matlins won't disclose its appraised value.
For the next two years, Matlins said, the plan is to tour Golash's pearl in museums and traveling exhibits, then auction it in Hong Kong, where pearls are most prized.
 
We have that article and a picture of it on this website. Now it is several years later. what did it actually end up going for? I heard it was far less than the hype.
 

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Thanks for the info. I saw the brooch before but wasn't aware of that story. A.M stumbles one step in my stairs of fame.
 
Caitlin Williams said:
I found this from the Oneida Nation
http://images.google.com/imgres?img...w=107&start=1&prev=/images?q=wampum&hl=en&lr=

And this Quote:
"Wampum consists of beads made from mussel shells found along the coast of New England. White beads came from several species of whelk. The purple beads derived from the hard-shell or quahog clam similar to the one shown here. The wampum objects were woven on a bow-like loom. Sinew was used for the horizontal threads. Vertical strands were composed of a vegetal fiber (perhaps milkweed or hemp). Wampum was connected to the spoken word. A piece of wampum testified to the truth and importance of a message which was "read into" the object itself. A very important message, such as a treaty, required a large amount of wampum often in the form of a belt. View a larger version of the wampum detail photograph.


Wampum comes from Quahog Shells.
 
Wampum comes from Quahog Shells.

Your point being?:rolleyes:

I think it is perfectly clear in posts 10-13 that we discussed that. Even though the quote says
"mussel" shells, it is a direct quote so I kept it and does says quahog deeper into the article.
 
Any advice?

Any advice?

Hi again,

I wrote earlier and sent a picture of my quahog pearl. I appreciate everyone's advice on not going to the gemologist who suggested I take the pearl to my dentist to have it x-rayed. I cancelled the appointments with the gemologist and the dentist. Actually, I think my dentist was dissapointed; he was looking forward to seeing the X-ray!!

I am still a little confused as to where to go. I did try to email Jeremy Norris but have not recieved a reply. I was hoping to take it to someone on the East Coast as this is where I live. Is Jeremy the only person I should trust to appraise it properly or is there someone on the East Coast anyone could recommend? Unfortunalty, Jeremy is listed as living in CA. Hopefully he is in a safe area!!

Thanks for any help,
Gloria
 
Very, very old Mollusks

Very, very old Mollusks

A 405 years old Quahog Clam is found to be the oldest animal on record, taking the flame from... another mollusk, 31 years younger. No pearls involved.

LINK to BBC News
 
How cool! I just love quahogs - I would collect the shell fragments from the beach when I was a kid and use them as "worry stones" b/c I liked the way the water worn shells felt and the pretty colors.
 
Thanks, Patrick. That's really interesting. I had absolutely no idea anything, let alone clams, lived that long.

There seemed to be a little problem with the link to the original article from Bangor University. Here is a direct link... http://http://www.bangor.ac.uk/news/full.php.en?Id=382

It is interesting that they are using their research to investigate aging. Maybe it is something to do with the frigid waters off of Iceland ;)

John
 
Valeria101 had you beat by several hours. Her post has a link to an article with photos.;)

She's the in-house web-crawler!:p
 
I saw her post after I replied - she's pretty amazing!
 
yes nobody is going to beat Valeria on the draw thats for sure - we love her around here!
 
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purple pearls

purple pearls

I have a purple/white pearl I found in a clam I was eating. I am trying to find some info or value of it. Is anyone familiar with this kind of pearl?
 
Probably a cherry stone. There is a lot of information here about quahogs people have found. It is likely a quahog pearl.
 
We have thread called "the Quahog thread" I am moving this over there.

Meanwhile,If your pearl was cooked fagedaboutit. If it wasn't cooked, then it may have some value as an odddity. If it especially large, uncooked and lovely, you may be ble to sell it.
 
Another Purple Pearl

Another Purple Pearl

It looks as though Matlins is already on this one...

http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/national/BO70061/

I wonder what dark hole that jeweler pulled the $25,000 valuation from.
http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2007/12/31/floridian_finds_rare_pearl_in_clam.html

At least Matlilns was wise enough not to place some crazy value on the pearl again.

$25,000... what a pipe dream. It sort of reminds me of a $10,000 whelk pearl here once before;) A quahog pearl that small wouldn't be worth more than a few hundred at best.
 
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