10mm dark purple quahog pearl, found by my mother while shocking quahogs

by Tim Mann
(Originally from cape cod, Massachusetts )

In the early 90s my father was a commercial shellfisherman in cape cod Massachusetts. He dug clams and quahogs depending on the market and what he could fetch more for. Each year my family took part in the local Pow Wow and my mom always has a stand selling fresh steamers, fried clams, steamed little necks and clam (quahog) chowder. My father would catch bushels of steamers and quahogs and my mother and anyone who would help would shuck them as needed. My father as a fisherman, not knowing he had something extremely valuable had literally a film canister full of different sized, colored and shaped quahog pearls. I asked if I could have one and he laughed and said maybe when he had enough he would make a piece of jewelry out of it for me. I was thinking cool, I'll have a whole bunch if I just wait...fast forward 20+ years and I asked my mom if she remembers the film canister full of pearls, as I had just seen one for sale for a lot of money... she said she had one left and didn't know where it was. Around 2017 I got a letter in the mail with the pearl inside. Mom had found it and sent it to me 😁.