Jewelers Trade Shop

It all started with an article that I read 25 years ago about Caribbean conch pearls. The article in the1987 “Gems & Gemology” quarterly journal intrigued me so much that I have been searching for the past 20 years to locate a source for the “rare” and unique pink gems. Finding the unusual beauties required that I did a little more research on the Conch. I made connections with native Bahamians, took taxi rides to places where the driver was too afraid to get out of the car and finally discovered the exquisite pink pearls.

My findings came when I made a visit to Mclean’s Town, located at the East End of Grand Bahama, Mclean’s Town is known as the conch cracking capital of the world. My visit luckily landed me there during their annual conch-cracking contest. I met men and women who cleaned the conch, they either had the pearls or they could lead me in the right direction to who did. After traveling to Belize, Mexico, Cuba, Turks & Caicos, Cayman Islands & Costa Rica, I had the best results in Mclean’s Town.

The description from the 1987 edition of Gems & Gemology reads as follows: “Conch “pearls,” calcareous concretions produced by the Queen conch mollusk, Strombus gigas, often have a very attractive pink color that may be enhanced by a characteristic silky-looking “flame structure”. Only one in 10,000 to 15,000 conchs produce a pearl and only one in one hundred of the pearls that are found have gem color and quality. Although conch pearls come in many tones, including pink, brown, yellow, orange and white, the most sought after colors are pink and orange.

Customarily conchs are fished for their meat, you can find them used in delicacies such as conch fritters, cracked (fried) conch, conch chowder, and conch salad. After the meat has been cleaned from the shell their carcasses are thrown to the side, leaving the chance to find the scarce pink jewel.

Like other pearls, the conch pearl begins when an irritant from a foreign body (sand, grit, etc) form a nucleus. No conch pearls are cultured, they are all “natural”. Our next project was to sit down and discuss what we wanted to fabricate. So out of 35 pearls that I have collected over the year Corbett III and I decided to make one large piece and several smaller pieces with just one pearl in each. I scribbled a rough design on a piece of notebook paper and after measuring, weighing, and assorting the pearls we came up with a design that would showcase the beauty of the pearls without damaging them. Ten days later we had a completely hand made exquisite, unique piece. With 8 natural pink conch pearls weighing a total of 30.64 cts. 45 round faceted natural pink sapphires at 2.60cts. total, 320 diamonds that weigh 15.17 cts you are sure to be impressed with the quality of workmanship.

Please come by and view our extraordinary new masterpiece that holds a very special place in our hearts.


		Conch Pearls It all started with an article that I read 25 years ago about Caribbean conch pearls. The article in the1987 “Gems & Gemology” quarterly journal intrigued me so much that I have been searching for the past 20 years to locate a source for the “rare” and unique pink gems. Finding the unusual beauties required that I did a little more research on the Conch. I made connections with native Bahamians, took taxi rides to places where the driver was too afraid to get out of the car and finally discovered the exquisite pink pearls. My findings came when I made a visit to Mclean’s Town, located at the East End of Grand Bahama, Mclean’s Town is known as the conch cracking capital of the world. My visit luckily landed me there during their annual conch-cracking contest. I met men and women who cleaned the conch, they either had the pearls or they could lead me in the right direction to who did. After traveling to Belize, Mexico, Cuba, Turks & Caicos, Cayman Islands & Costa Rica, I had the best results in Mclean’s Town. The description from the 1987 edition of Gems & Gemology reads as follows: “Conch “pearls,” calcareous concretions produced by the Queen conch mollusk, Strombus gigas, often have a very attractive pink color that may be enhanced by a characteristic silky-looking “flame structure”. Only one in 10,000 to 15,000 conchs produce a pearl and only one in one hundred of the pearls that are found have gem color and quality. Although conch pearls come in many tones, including pink, brown, yellow, orange and white, the most sought after colors are pink and orange. Customarily conchs are fished for their meat, you can find them used in delicacies such as conch fritters, cracked (fried) conch, conch chowder, and conch salad. After the meat has been cleaned from the shell their carcasses are thrown to the side, leaving the chance to find the scarce pink jewel. Like other pearls, the conch pearl begins when an irritant from a foreign body (sand, grit, etc) form a nucleus. No conch pearls are cultured, they are all “natural”. Our next project was to sit down and discuss what we wanted to fabricate. So out of 35 pearls that I have collected over the year Corbett III and I decided to make one large piece and several smaller pieces with just one pearl in each. I scribbled a rough design on a piece of notebook paper and after measuring, weighing, and assorting the pearls we came up with a design that would showcase the beauty of the pearls without damaging them. Ten days later we had a completely hand made exquisite, unique piece. With 8 natural pink conch pearls weighing a total of 30.64 cts. 45 round faceted natural pink sapphires at 2.60cts. total, 320 diamonds that weigh 15.17 cts you are sure to be impressed with the quality of workmanship. Please come by and view our extraordinary new masterpiece that holds a very special place in our hearts.