Scallop Pearls or Lion's Paw Pearls
Scallop Pearls or Lion's Paw Pearls, are extremely rare non-nacreous pearls, produced by a bivalve mollusk, commonly known as the Scallop, Lion's Paw or in Spanish "Mano de Leon" (hand of the lion), belonging to the class Pelecypoda and family Pectinidae. The family name Pectinidae has been derived from the ancient Latin name, Pecten, meaning "comb," given for scallops by Pliny the Elder, the Roman author, naturalist and philosopher, because of their round and ridged outline with radiating ribs that resembled a type of comb used during the Roman empire. The name "scallop" is derived from the Old French "escalope," which means shell. Two of the pearl producing Scallop species are mainly found on the Pacific coast off Baja California or in the Atlantic coast off northeast America, from Newfoundland to North Carolina, and these pearls are sometimes referred to by their ocean of origin, as Pacific scallop pearls and Atlantic scallop pearls respectively.
Wild scallops are mainly harvested by scallop fisherman for their meat, and any pearls collected are by products of this scallop fishing industry. The wild scallops harvested are cleaned on board the fishing vessels, and the viscera and shells thrown overboard. The shucking of scallops is done manually, and the process is very fast, that any pearls on the shell or within the mantle, may not be seen before the shells and viscera are thrown overboard. It is only the adductor muscle of the scallop that is used as meat, and the other parts of the mollusk are discarded. It has been estimated that only around 1 in 10,000 scallops produce pearls. Out of this around 1 in 5 pearls are gem-quality. Thus the probability of occurrence of gem-quality scallop pearls is 1/10,000 x 1/5 = 1/50,000 i.e. 1 in 50,000. This is quite high when compared to the occurrence of conch pearls and quahog pearls, which is 1 in 1 million and 1 in 2 million respectively. Thus, contrary to the common belief, gem-quality scallop pearls are not so scarce as queen conch pearls and quahog pearls. This is due to the occurrence of a higher percentage of gem-quality pearls in a given quantity of pearls harvested
Characteristics of Scallop pearls
Characteristics of scallop pearls depend on the species of scallop from which
the pearls were harvested, which necessarily means the source or the geographic
range where the species is found predominantly. Thus, we have two main types of
scallop pearls :- the Pacific scallop pearls and the Atlantic scallop pearls.
The Pacific Scallop pearls
Originate from the species Nodipecten subnodosus
Pacific scallop pearls originate from the scallop species found in the Pacific,
known as Nodipecten subnodosus (Pacific Lion's Paw), mainly in the coastal
waters off Central America, such as the waters off the coast of Baja California.
It is also found in the inland Sea of Cortez in Mexico.
The size of the scallop pearls
These scallop pearls vary in size, from the size of seed pearls to a maximum of
around 40 carats. In terms of dimensions, this may mean from less than 2 mm to
over 10 mm in size. Rarely pearls are multiple, with several pearls combined
together.
Shape of the scallop pearls
The finding of Craig Fancy for Atlantic scallop pearls, that out of around 200
pearls, 40 are gem-quality, with the desired shape, symmetry and color, also
holds good for Pacific scallop pearls. Thus only one out of five harvested
scallop pearls have some form of symmetry in their shape. The rest are either
too small, or irregular, baroque pearls or have an undesirable brown color. One
out of five or 20% of harvested scallop pearls having desirable shapes, is quite
high, which led to some accounts of scallop pearls characterizing them as
natural pearls that are mostly symmetrical in shape, which is strictly speaking
not true. The symmetrical shapes that one comes across in these pearls are
round, near-round, button, drops and ovals.
Color of the pearls
Pacific scallop pearls have a wide range of colors, that vary from the lighter
tones, such as white, cream, yellow, pink and mauve (pale purple) to the darker
tones such as orange, brown, deep-purple, plum (reddish-purple), maroon (dark
brownish-red) and brownish-purple. Most scallop pearls have a mosaic or mottling
of light and dark colors, which is believed to be an optical phenomenon. The
lighter color is invariably white, cream or yellow and the darker colors, brown,
brownish-purple, plum and maroon. Scallop pearls with a single color are very
rare.
Appearance of the pearls
Being non-nacreous, scallop pearls lack the brilliance (luster) and orient of
nacreous pearls. But, as if to compensate for this the calcite microcrystalline
bundles of fibers, arranged parallely as seen in SEM images, impart a unique
3-dimensional effect or sheen on the pearl, when viewed in light, also known as
a flash effect, similar to the flame structure of conch and melo-melo pearls.
According to the CIBJO's description of scallop pearls, the surface appearance
of scallop pearls is comprised of a patchwork of cells, with each cell being
formed from three sub-cells. The orientation of these sub-cells and the low
magnification fibrous appearance of structures within them, give the scallop
pearl a peculiar surface sheen.
The Atlantic scallop pearls
Atlantic scallop pearls can originate from three different species, but the most
important one is Placopecten magellanicus around which a successful commercial
fishery exists
Atlantic scallop pearls can originate from three different species of scallops
found in the northeastern North American region, the natural geographic range of
these scallops. These species are the North Atlantic deep-sea scallop,
Placopecten magellanicus; the Atlantic bay scallop, Argopecten irradians, and
the Atlantic Lion's Paw, Nodipecten nodosus. The scallops occur along the
continental shelf of North America from Newfoundland and Labrador to Cape
Hatteras in North Carolina. North of Cape Cod in the State of Massachusetts,
scattered concentrations of scallops occur in shallow water, just below the low
tide mark. Further south concentrations are restricted to deeper and cooler off
shore waters. This is because Sea Scallops cannot tolerate water temperatures
above 20 to 22°C. Dense and extensive scallop beds that can support commercial
fishing exist from Port au Bay, Newfoundland to the Virginia Capes, at depths of
between 40 to 100 meters. The species found at these depths is Placopecten
magellanicus, the North Atlantic deep-sea scallop. Digby in Nova Scotia, "the
Scallop Capital of the World" is the center of a commercially important deep sea
scallop fishery as well as inshore fishery, harvesting the smaller bay scallop (Argopecten
irradians) in the Bay of Fundy off Digby.
Size of Atlantic scallop pearls
The Atlantic scallop pearls are a by product of a thriving scallop fishery
taking place at several places along the geographic range of the deep sea
scallop, including the important fishery out of Digby, Nova Scotia. Pearls
produced by the deep-sea scallop Placopecten magellanicus are usually irregular
(baroque) and small, with a size of around 1-2 mm (seed pearls). However, older
animals produce larger pearls, with an average size of 3-5 mm and sometimes can
reach a size of 5-6 mm. Pearls lager than this are very rare, but Craig Fancy
had owned some exceptional specimens, such as two button-shaped scallop pearls
with dimensions of 10 x 9 mm and 12.2 x 8.5 mm; a large baroque pearl, with
dimensions of 20 x 9 x 8 mm; and four large round pearls with dimensions of 8-11
mm.
Shape of Atlantic scallop pearls
Most of the Atlantic scallop pearls are small and baroque in shape, less than 2
mm in size and falling under seed pearls. Craig Fancy, the pioneer jeweler from
Nova Scotia, who first began setting Atlantic scallop pearls on pieces of
jewelry, in the 1990s, estimated that out of around 200 scallop pearls only
around 40 were of gem-quality, with the desired symmetrical shape, and color.
This works out to 1 in 5 or 20% of harvested pearls. The symmetrical shapes that
were found were round, near-round, button, drop and oval.
Color of Atlantic scallop pearls
Gem-quality Atlantic scallop pearls were white, off-white, or pale-tan in color.
Non gem-quality scallop pearls were small, misshapen (baroque) and have an
undesirable brown color.
Appearance of the pearls
The pearls are non-nacreous and do not have the luster and orient of nacreous
pearls. However, the pearls have a silvery sheen, that complement the white and
pale-tan colors of the pearls, an optical effect caused by the parallel calcite
fibers on the surface, a 3-D effect, also known as a flash effect. This is
similar to the chatoyancy caused in gemstones such as beryls, sapphires, quartz
etc that produces a catseye effect or star effect, an optical effect caused by
rutile fibers.
How Scallop pearls became popular in recent times ?
Scallop pearls had no market value and their existence was overlooked for a very
long time, in a world dominated by cultured pearls
The existence of scallop pearls had been known by scallop fisherman of the
Atlantic coast of northeast America for a long time, who had found them casually
while shucking harvested scallops for their meat, on board their fishing
vessels. However, as pointed out earlier the shucking process is so quick,
lasting just a few seconds, in order to preserve the volume and quality of the
meat, that any pearls on the shell or within the mantle cavity, may not be
discovered, before the shells and viscera are thrown overboard. Perhaps, one
reason for the lack of concern, for the possible existence of a pearl inside a
scallop, was because the scallop pearl was largely unknown to the outside world,
and had no market value at all.
Scallop pearls became popular only after the resurgence in demand for natural
pearls beginning from the 1990s
This was in complete contrast to conch pearls, also a by product of the queen
conch fishery in the Caribbean, that became very popular in the late-Victorian
and Edwardian periods, but whose popularity died down soon after the end of
world war I, when the successful culturing of Akoya pearls by the Japanese,
flooded the pearl markets of the world, with a range of cultured pearls, in a
variety of colors, shapes and sizes, and at affordable prices. The success of
the Japanese, dealt a death blow, to the natural pearl fishing industry across
the world. Unlike conch pearls, scallop pearls had never been known to the world
before, and when the scallop fishing industry developed, even though their
existence came to light, it did not create any impact as the natural pearl
industry was virtually dead, in a world dominated by Mikimoto's cultured pearls.
The cultured pearl industry had dominated the pearl markets for over eight
decades. However, beginning in the 1990s, there had been a resurgence in the
demand for natural pearls in the Middle East , Europe and America, which was
clearly reflected in enhanced prices realized for pieces of jewelry
incorporating old natural Oriental, Venezuelan, and black Tahitian pearls, at
auctions conducted by renowned auction houses, such as Christie's and Sotheby's.
See table below. The increase in demand for old natural pearls was followed by
an increase in demand for other contemporary natural pearls, such as conch
pearls, abalone pearls, freshwater natural pearls from America, quahog pearls,
melo-melo pearls and finally the scallop pearls