Abalones are large snails with a beautiful secret. Brown and gray on the outside, covered in seaweed, creeping slowly over rocks in tidal flats while remaining firmly attached to them by a muscular foot, abalone deposit a striking iridescent mother-of-pearl shell within their shells.
Abalones are a marine gastropod, a sea snail that looks like a typical garden snail because it also carries a single spiral shell on its back. Along with Conch and Melo melo snails, abalone are one of the few gastropods that are capable of producing pearls.
Abalone live in shells up to 20 to 30 cm in size and can survive in cold or warm waters, which has supported their wide geographic habitat. They are typically found off the coasts of the western US, Mexico, Japan, Korea, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Although most abalone live for 10 to 20 years, they can even reach 40 or 50 years of age. A delicacy in some areas of the world, abalone have historically been hand-picked for meat, and the shells are used for ornaments, mugs, and even coins.
Like pearls that come from a mollusk like an oyster, abalone pearls are made by depositing thousands of layers of an organic substance called nacre. Their inner shell of mother-of-pearl is often more colorful than that of bivalve molluscs such as oysters, often displaying a stunning combination of blue, green, pink, purple, and silver.
Natural abalone pearls are quite rare and until the last century were relatively unknown in the gemological markets. With their unique color and baroque horn shapes, these pearls are now highly sought after by jewelry designers and collectors. One of the largest natural abalone pearls ever found is the Big Pink Pearl, which was valued in 1991 at $4.7 million. Symmetrical round abalone pearls are still very rare and can take many years to form.
Attempts to produce cultured pearls from abalone have been recorded since the late 19th century in various countries. The main pearl farms today are in New Zealand and California. The main challenge for pearl farmers is that the animal’s blood does not coagulate, and if the animal is accidentally injured during the surgical insertion of a core, it can bleed to death. For this reason, mabe Abalone blister pearls are most often grown by pearl farmers, as no incision is required to start making the Abalone into a blister pearl.
Although very valuable and rare pearls are secretly made by large sea snails such as abalone, beautiful mabe abalone cultured pearls are also made into pendants and earrings that are quite affordable for jewelry lovers.