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THE NZ ABALONE (PAUA) 

The New Zealand Alablone (Haliotis Iris) locally known as Paua are marine monovalve molluscs that eat seaweed and live clinging to ocean rocks at depths of 1-10 metres. They can be found in most places thriving in the colder waters around the New Zealand rocky shoreline.

The shell of the paua is well known for being exceptionally strong. It is made of microscopic calcium carbonate tiles which are stacked like bricks. Between the layers of tiles is a sticky protein substance. When the paua shell is struck, the tiles slide instead of shattering and the protein stretches to absorb the energy of the blow. It’s exactly this type of construction that is being studied for possible implementation into stronger ceramic products such as body armour.
 
While the outside of the Paua is rugged and strong, the underside of the shell has an amazing beauty about it. It is this beauty and array of colours which is transferred to the developing pearl and gives it a uniqueness unsurpassed by any other pearls. To find out more about the Abalone Pearl and it’s development read the next section below..

The paua itself has considerable food value and is extremely delicious. If you do wish to taste paua, first remove the paua from its shell and discard all the soft parts, leaving only the tough foot and muscle, taking care that a long, white ribbon like structure is removed from the mouth. This is the radula, or dental apparatus, which is studded with hundreds of hard, sharp, tiny teeth. Next, place the animal in a fold of cloth and pound it until muscular tension is relaxed. Personally my favourite preparation is to slice the paua thinly and then fry in a mix of butter and garlic, or if you’re feeling up to it you can cut it up and eat it raw.

ABALONE (PAUA) PEARLS

The abalone pearl is one of the most beautiful  and unusual of all pearls. It is also one of the rarest.  

The abalone produces an amazingly colored and highly iridescent nacre and mother-of-pearl shell lining that has long been valued for inlay and shell jewelry. Very much their shells, abalone pearls are vibrantly colored and highly iridescent.

It is a true nacreous pearl (consisting of many concentric layers of nacre), but it is not produced by a bivalve mollusk like other pearls, it is actually produced by an ear-shaped univalve mollusk. The resulting pearls are ones of beauty, the exquisite luster and iridescence, resulting from alternating layers of nacre produce rare and beautiful gems, especially sought after by top jewelry designers and connoisseurs around the world.

Most abalone pearls these days are “man made” or cultured pearls. The rarer naturally formed pearls have a more organic shape which reflects their natural evolution.  Currently production of cultured abalone pearls is limited to mabe pearls.

Each natural abalone pearl produced by Abalone is unique in appearance. There are many types of Abalone, but in New Zealand we have the beautiful “Haliotis Iris” locally known as Paua. The beauty of the Paua is directly reflected in the color, size, and shape of the pearls produced, and account for the distinct individuality of each pearl.

The colors of the abalone pearl are vivid and striking, ranging from a soft pink color to dark black, purple, green, and blue, all with pronounced highlights of in between.

The shape as mentioned is another distinguishing trait of natural abalone pearls. Mostly baroque, their shapes can be extremely unique and this adds to their allure. Some are shaped like elongated spheres, others like discs and some are horn or tooth shaped.

In terms of color, the magenta, greens and blue paua pearls are the most desirable and command the highest prices. Most will have a brownish or discolored area; this is typical and does not usually diminish the value to any great extent. The smoothness of the surface and freedom from blemishes is also very important, but keep in mind that it is extremely rare to find an abalone pearl with a “flawless” surface or symmetrical shape; truly round or spherical abalone pearls are virtually unknown. Their beauty comes form their unique shapes and colours.

MY PEARLS - LARGE
 
These four pearls were the first pearls (shown on my PEARLS page in detial) that I found, just over 30 years ago in the Chatham Islands which is a small Island about 800 kms off the coast of New Zealand. These pearls were found purely by accident during some recreational snorkeling. On each seperate occasion I was actually looking for Paua for that evening’s dinner, when by chance I found these amazing formations in the gonad (shown below) of the paua. It's this location in the gonad which influences the development of these pearls and gives them their unique shape, usually similar to that of a horn or tooth.

Not being an expert on the subject of Abalone pearls, I held on to them until now, admiring their natural beauty and never fully realising what they actually were. Recently I have had a bit of spare time on my hands so I decided to do further research into these natural beauties and that’s when I really discovered the world of Abalone Pearls.
 
Based on what I was learning through general reading and advice I was able to develop a couple of my own theories and through this I was able to stumble upon a number of smaller pearls which is touched on in the following section.
 

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MY PEARLS -SMALL
 
I’ve managed to find a number of small Abalone  pearls which you can see if you go to my PEARLS page. Working on a couple of theories that I had, the original pearls were found slightly imbedded within the flesh of the Abalone and were usually freestanding and could easily be removed. One some occasion I was also able to find naturally formed Mabe pearls which are shown below.
 
These seed and mabe pearls are usually caused by an irritant inside the shell. If the pearl forms as part of the shell, such as a Mabe, they will usually be a dome shape, hollow on the inside and need to be cut away from the shell. If they form as a small "seed" they will be loose and usually embeded against the Abalone's flesh as you can see in the following close up shots.

The more recent discovery I have had is where the pearls have actually formed within the Abalone shell itself. These shells seem to have been “invaded” at some stage during their lifecycle and as a result of this intrusion a cluster of pearls has formed. These pearls feel a lot harder and more solid than the usual formations. These particular shells are much thicker and heavier than usual and usually have a slightly deformed look. When broken apart, small seed like pearls ranging from 1mm to 10mm can be extracted.

I have more photos of these particular pearls on my  PEARLS page showing them before they have been extracted from a section of the shell, and also after extraction with some basic cleaning. With complete cleaning and polishing these particular pearls would make amazing additions to custom jewelry where their unique organic qualities could be displayed.
 
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