Freshwater Pearls

[fossis]

While gathering mussel shells for fishing lines, (bait),
I started finding a few freshwater pearls, so after 12 years of
looking, (in a private lake) in AR, these are my Treasures !!
The button industry used shell up until Celluloid & plastic
came along, here are pic's of old shell buttons also.

Fossis................

 

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[Abbey]

Fossis- those are beautiful! Here on the eastern shore, Maryland-- over the winter, I found a site where I found a HEAP of shells- not just shells (it took me a couple minutes to figure it out) but shells which had been punched out for buttons! All conch-like shells- with the outer edge punched out in little circles- just like a paper punch to a cicle of paper! I was amazed! Must have been a button manufacturer of some sort-- which doesn't suprize me being so close to the ocean. But in the middle of nowhere...not expecting it. Took a fistfull of 'blanks' home for 'evidence'. And I remember motorcycling north between Kentucky Lake and Cumberland Lake. Stopped and camped near a fellow and his kids. He'd dived for mussles there-- apparently a huge (and blackmarket) demand for them in Asia-- and a lot of $$ to be had. I'd never seen such big beautiful mussle shells before!

Thanks for sharing your treasures. I love your posts
Ab

 

[fossis]

Fossis- those are beautiful! Here on the eastern shore, Maryland-- over the winter, I found a site where I found a HEAP of shells- not just shells (it took me a couple minutes to figure it out) but shells which had been punched out for buttons! All conch-like shells- with the outer edge punched out in little circles- just like a paper punch to a cicle of paper! I was amazed! Must have been a button manufacturer of some sort-- which doesn't suprize me being so close to the ocean. But in the middle of nowhere...not expecting it. Took a fistfull of 'blanks' home for 'evidence'. And I remember motorcycling north between Kentucky Lake and Cumberland Lake. Stopped and camped near a fellow and his kids. He'd dived for mussles there-- apparently a huge (and blackmarket) demand for them in Asia-- and a lot of $$ to be had. I'd never seen such big beautiful mussle shells before!

Thanks for sharing your treasures. I love your posts
Ab

Thanks Abbey, I have a daughter named (Abby), I am
amazed that you could still find the shells that were punched
out after all these years, there was a lot of activity in the
gathering of shells for a lot of years, I never sold any, mine were
not right,(didn't break clean) like the ones they wanted.
They, (the Japanese) use a small round seed bead, made
from American shells to implant in their ocean clams, growing
the " cultured pearls" found in jewelry stores.
A man in TN, married a Japanese girl, & learned the art of
implanting, now he raises big colored pearls, suspended from
PVC pipes in his area, I saw a special on TV a few years back,
He turned down an offer of $50,000 for a strand of (pure)
pearls, found by his crew of divers over a 25 year period.

HH, Fossis..............

 

[Eu_citzen]

Reminds me of "Paua shells"
http://images.google.se/images?hl=sv&q=paua%20shells%2BNew%20zealand&btnG=S%C3%B6k&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi

 

[wesfrye53]

Fossis...those are great finds.

The freshwater pearl jewelry industry is pretty big here in Tennessee and it looks like you've got many that would make some great jewelry!

 

[fossis]

Fossis...those are great finds.

The freshwater pearl jewelry industry is pretty big here in Tennessee and it looks like you've got many that would make some great jewelry!

Thanks, I will have to get around to having
some jewelry made some day soon.

Fossis.............

 

[Abbey]

Thanks for your reply, Fossis. I never would have imagined-- all those shells. But when you consider that folks find oyster and clam shells- a cue to a homesite dump, well, I guess I shouldn't be as surprized as I am
Happy Father's Day!
Ab

 

[fossis]

Reminds me of "Paua shells"
http://images.google.se/images?hl=sv&q=paua%20shells%2BNew%20zealand&btnG=S%C3%B6k&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi

The paua shells are more brilliant, I think I have
one or two, also abalone is beautiful.

Fossis..............