Man eating bowl of clams chewed on something hard — a rare discovery worth thousands
Scott Overland was enjoying a bowl of clams when his teeth made contact with a rare discovery that nearly sent him to the dentist.
“As I was eating the clams, I bit down on something hard and thought it was a piece of shell,” he told PhillyVoice after his August bite. “When we looked at it, it was actually purple.”
“We initially thought it was something a chef had dropped in like a bead or piece of candy,” he continued. “My wife said it looked like one of those dots candies that you peel off of paper, because the back of it was flat and it was a very light shade of purple.”
But this was no tooth-cracking candy.
Overland had found a “rare, non-nacreous, purple Quahog pearl” at Salt Air restaurant in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, according to the communication professional’s LinkedIn post.
The Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, man recently had his lavender-colored pearl examined by Philadelphia Jewelry Appraisers. Now Overland knows exactly how much his rare discovery is worth.
His vacation find is valued at $4,071, according to a TikTok from the appraiser.
@philadelphiajewel #jewelryappraisal #pearl #naturalpearl #clam #EndlessJourney ♬ original sound - Jewelry Appraisals
“This is probably the most special thing I have ever had,” the jewelry appraiser said. He’s been appraising jewelry since 1992, and this was the first time he’s encountered the rare pearl.
“It’s a pretty rare thing to have in this world, and they’re super lucky that they found it and didn’t swallow it, or break it with their teeth,” Josh Hyman, with Philadelphia Jewelry Appraisers, told PhillyVoice. “This one is attractive. It’s a decent shape. It’s not an oddball shape. It’s got a uniform, nice purple color. It’s a really cool piece.”
A video of the appraisal report was shared in the TikTok, identifying the find as a loose, natural pearl from a saltwater northern quahog clam. The button-shaped pearl weighs 1.49 carats.
The flat edge of the pearl — the part that Overland compared to candy buttons peeled from paper — was actually where the pearl was once attached to the clam, according to Philadelphia Jewelry Appraisers.
While it’s rare to find a pearl produced by a quahog, the Gemological Institute of America says “tales of their accidental discovery while eating clams are not uncommon.”
In 2015, the GIA reported a 16.64 carat purple non-nacreous pearl was submitted to its New York laboratory.
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