Florida couple finds $25K purple pearl in clam

by Joe DiStefano, Posted Jan 3rd 2008 @ 9:05AM

Our sister blog, Luxist, picked up the story of a Florida couple who received an unexpected year-end bonus, a rare purple pearl.

While enjoying some steamed clams at Dave's Last Resort & Raw Bar with his wife, Leslie, George Brock suddenly bit down on something hard. By now you've guessed that what stopped him midslurp was the aforementioned pearl. It's safe to say that the couple didn't expect anything from their $10 investment other than fresh seafood. Turns out they got much more than that: A gemologist's appraisal pegged the pearl's value at $25,000.

I'm no gemologist, but the last time I checked pearls, purple or otherwise, are found in oysters. I've eaten my share of oysters and clams both raw and cooked. Heck, I've had conch freshly plucked from the clear blue waters of Nassau, and I'm always game for giant clam at the sushi bar. Some might say that I've been lucky to have found only grit and stray bits of shell in my mollusks and not a nasty bug. However, the Brocks' purple pearl and the arrival of 2008 have given me hope. I resolve to eat more mollusks this year, if only for health reasons.

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Filed Under: Food Oddities, Ingredients, Holidays
Tags: clams, Florida, mollusks, new years, oddities, oysters, pearl, pearls, shellfish, southern states

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-03-2008 @4:54PM DD said... The only thing I've ever found in an oyster was a rusty fish hook.
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1-05-2008 @1:31PM JMForester said... Joe- a heads up. Pearl Oysters are not closely related to edible oysters and are a specific type of saltwater clam. Freshwater pearls come from freshwater mussels. Edible oysters don't make pearls. -JMF-
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1-12-2008 @12:09PM Fred Dyer said... My company, Dyer Shellfish, Inc. was the supplier of clams to which this pearl apppeared. Contrary to previous reports, it actually came from an aquacultured clam that was grown in the waters off of Cedar Key, Florida. This area is in the Gulf of Mexico near the Suwanee River in northwest Florida and is the nation's largest producer of farm raised clams. Congratulations to the finder of this rare pearl and everyone keep eating Florida farm raised clams! The benefits are many!
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