Description
There are so many shell necklaces, and it took awhile to be able to identify a true puka shell necklace. Instead of the beads being hand cut and crafted, they are actually naturally occurring and found on the beaches in Hawaii. They are described as:
“This shell fragment can be viewed as a sort of a natural bead, and is known in Hawaii as a “puka”. Real puka shells are not flat: one side of the bead is slightly convex; the other is concave. The concave side of the bead clearly shows the spiral form of the interior of the spire of the cone shell.”
The above definition has helped to differentiate these many types of shell necklaces. This necklace has non uniform beads that are convex on one side and concave on the other side. As the definition explains, you can clearly see the natural spiral at the centre of each bead, as opposed to a drill hole like you see in other beads. Therefore this necklace is a natural puka shell necklace with a range of naturally shaped shells. The top portion of it has about an inch of smaller shells on each side. It has a barrel clasp. It measures 18.5″ in length. The larger individual shells are around .5″ or 12-15 mm. in diameter. It is in excellent condition.
“Puka shell jewellery first became a popular item in Hawaii during the 1960s, as an attractive and inexpensive lei that could be made and sold on the beach. In the 1970s, this type of shell jewelry became highly sought after, and prices skyrocketed.”
