Giant Melo Melo

[pattye]

Oh, those colors! Amazing!!

 

[Caitlin]

Ahhhhsome!!!

 

[efritz]

The shell in the picture is a Tridacna Clam, also a producer of pearls. Often the pearls are formed in the gonads or other soft tissue of the living animals. I have seen conch pearls carved from shells and coral but they look obvious under magnification. The melo shell is thin and would not lend itself to carving out pearls. There would not be flame or concentric lines. Eric

 

[SteveM]

The melo shell is thin and would not lend itself to carving out pearls. There would not be flame or concentric lines.

Agreed, it's strictly about the protoconch.

The cause of controversy (aside from wholesale massacre of this as-yet-unprotected species strictly for its pearls) is rampant shaping due to the extreme value enhancement of rounds. Such pearls are certified natural, with shaping noted on the certificate (such mention easily removed in Photoshop). Carved shell and shaped pearls exhibit the same surface characteristics under magnification.