Shell

Shell comes in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. It may be fashioned into buttons, beads, inlay, jewelry, snuff boxes, knife handles, and other decorative items. Conch shells with pink and white layers may be carved into intricate and attractive cameos. Similarly, helmet shells, which have white outer layers and golden brown or orange inner layers may be carved the same way as well.

The large pearl oysters (Pinctada maxima and P. margaritifera), abalones (paua), and topshells (trochidae) are all prized for their iridescent (mother-of-pear) shell linings.

Tortoiseshell comes, not from the tortoise, but from the hard shell (carapace) of the Hawksbill Turtle. It has rich brown mottling or flame-like patterns on a warm, translucent, golden yellow background. So, it is fashioned by warming the shell to flatten it and to scrape off the ridges, followed by polishing and cutting to shape.

When magnified, a shell may display spots in the natural, but not in imitation tortoiseshell.

It has a distinctive rich brown mottling. The ridges on the surface are scraped away during fashioning. Tortoiseshell has now been largely replaced by plastic imitations.

Spider Conch (Lambis Lambis) has a bright pink interior. It may be used for inlay work. The shell is found on inshore sands of the Indo-Pacific.

Hair Comb is a special variety of tortoiseshell. It shows attractive, almost fiery, patterns of yellow and brown, with darker patches.

The Mother-of-Pearl Shell displays the iridescent colors that are prized in many forms of jewelry and decorative items. It is common for the nacreous lining to be used for jewelry and inlays.

Table of Contents

Occurrence

Pinctada oysters are found in northern Australia. Abalones are found off the coasts of the USA and paua shells off New Zealand. The Hawksbill Turtle is found in the warm waters of the West Indies and Indonesia.