OUR JEWELRY

We pride ourselves on the authenticity and quality of our materials and final product. Our jewelry is worn by professional surfers, fishermen, ocean swimmers and kayakers all over the world. It is purposefully made to withstand continuous wear in both physically strenuous and harsh environments. With only reasonable care and caution, it should last for decades. See our Lifetime Warranty.

OUR COLLECTIONS

At our shop, we roughly arrange our jewelry into “collections”. A collection may represent the quality of the shells, rarity of the stone/wood enhancements, level of curation, assembly time/effort, etc. In general, puka shell jewelry falls into two categories: Traditional and Modern.

“Traditional” puka jewelry consists of unmatched, ungraduated, and uncurated shells. The quality may range widely (note that we use no shells below grade “B”). They are “puka shell only” strands, and do not typically contain gemstones or wooden bead enhancements. They most often do not have a “reverse”, and all of the naturally concave shells are oriented in the same direction. In essence, these are strung just as they are collected, and any level of matching or grading is done at the collection level. Necklaces and rarely bracelets/anklets, but never earrings or any other jewelry can be classified as “Traditional”.

“Modern” puka jewelry originated in the 1960’s and made popular in the 1970’s. It is often referred to as the “lei pupu puka” ( in Hawaiian: naturally holed seashell necklace) style. After collection, shells are curated for quality, size, and color, then matched in producing more consistent pieces. “Modern” puka jewelry styles may be closely matched for color, contain gemstone or wooden bead enhancements, necklaces and bracelets may have a “reverse” (center bead with opposing concave orientation), or be graduated from center to clasp. All earrings are in the Modern style.

Today, we offer the following Collections:

Collector: These are museum, heirloom and collector pieces representing extensive curation and rarity. Featuring grade AAA and AA pukas only, in very rare colors (pure white, tiger, pink, purple, black), we collect only enough of these out of millions of shells for 1-4 pieces each year. They are individually curated, graded, and matched for shape and size.

Designer: Individually curated, grade ranges from AA to A/B, often contain gemstone and/or wooden bead enhancements, and are generally matched for color and graduated.

Naturals: Our best interpretations of “traditional” puka jewelry. Roughly graded for size and quality, our “Naturals” collection can contain grade A/AB/B shells in white, colors, even pinks and tigers. These are strung as they are collected.

Specialty: We have several small collections inspired by family, friends, customers and their customized requests. These are typically named, for example our “Juvy” Collection is inspired by my wife and co-owner of the shop, our “Jewel” collection by my 10 year-old daughter.

OUR PUKAS

OUR PROCESS

Shells are collected, washed in seawater, rinsed with fresh water, sanitized and then sun-dried. We use NO chemicals; cleaning and sanitizing of individual shells and complete pieces is accomplished through solar-powered ultrasonics and UV sterilization. They are then graded at one to three points for quality, color and size.

PUKA SHELL GRADING

Our pukas are individually curated and graded, much like gemstones. This grading is done three times: on collection, when added to inventory, and finally when chosen for stringing. Grades range from AAA to D, and we use only B and above grades in our jewelry. Our grading is very conservative. Note that AAA and AA pukas are very rare and pricing reflects this. We grade several hundred thousand pukas each season, yielding only enough AAA/AA pukas for a few pieces, at best.

“AAA” (Perfects) – Round to less than +/-1mm, center holed to less than +/-1mm. Smoothly and evenly worn to shoulder top, bottom, and edge, no body whorl remaining. No broken, sharp, or incomplete edges, no visible defects or blemishes. Coloring is even and attractive, whites are pure, bright and clear. Any striping or markings are distinct and visible around full perimeter. Finish is hard, smooth, lightly translucent without blemishes or oxidation.

“AA” – Round to +/-1mm, center holed to +/-1mm. Smoothly and evenly worn to shoulder top, bottom, and edge, no body whorl remaining. No broken, sharp, or incomplete edges, no visible defects. Coloring is even and attractive, whites are pure, bright and clear. Any striping or markings are distinct and visible around most of perimeter. Finish is hard, smooth, lightly translucent without oxidation.

“A” – Round to +/-2mm, center holed to +/-2mm. Smoothly and evenly worn to shoulder top, bottom, and edge, no body whorl remaining. No broken, sharp, or incomplete edges, minor defects are fully worn. Coloring is even and attractive, white shades are allowed but still bright and clear. Any striping or markings are distinct and visible around most of perimeter. Finish is hard, smooth, lightly translucent without oxidation.

“AB” – Approximately round, hole falls within center 1/3 of shell. Smoothly and evenly worn to shoulder top, bottom, and edge, some fully worn body whorl may remain. No broken, sharp, or incomplete edges. Any defects are almost fully worn. Coloring may be uneven but still attractive, differing shades of white are allowed. Any striping or markings are worn and not visible around most of perimeter. Finish is hard, but some minor oxidation is allowed.
“B” – Approximately round to oval, natural hole falls within center 2/3 of shell. Unevenly worn to shoulder top and edge, some body whorl may remain. No broken or sharp edges. Coloring is uneven, and whites vary widely in shade. Any striping or markings are worn and barely visible. Finish is hard, and some oxidation is allowed.

WE DO NOT USE ANY GRADE “C” OR “D” PUKAS IN OUR WORK, THESE ARE RETURNED TO THE SEA AS “CULLS”. OUR GRADING IS CONSISTENT AND CONSERVATIVE, AND MOST WILL INDEPENDENTLY GRADE HIGHER THAN WHAT WE SHOW.

STRINGING

We string the majority of our necklaces on single clear virgin nylon monofilament. We use only high-strength line, typically 60-80 kg (140-175 lb) test for single stringing. If the size of the shells (or natural holes) will not support this, we double-string (or more) on no less than 35 kg (75 lb) test line.

We can and do occasionally string on leather and textile strands (abaca, natural hemp, cotton, wool, silk, nylon), and only use best-quality of each. Notes: 1) In order to string on leather or textile lines we may hand ream the existing holes in pukas to enlarge them and eliminate sharp edges that can damage the natural string. This is done in the traditional way, using cast iron needles fashioned by our local blacksmith. 2) We do not recommend exposing leather -or textile-strung jewelry to oils, water, soaps, lotions, creams, or makeup.

Bracelets and anklets are often strung on elastic, eliminating the need for a clasp. We use only 0.6 and 1.0 mm clear/white elastic nylon, doubled or quadrupled in stringing.

All terminations are at least triple-knotted and fused without introducing brittleness, and wedged into the clasp to further prevent unraveling.

CLASPS AND FINDINGS

All of our clasps are stainless steel, grade 316 (marine) stainless steel, solid brass, or corrosion resistant alloy (rarely). Other findings (metal parts) are best-grade stainless steel or corrosion-resistant alloys. All earring hooks are surgical steel or rhodium-plated surgical stainless. We use no precious metals (gold/silver) in our jewelry due to their weakness and poor resistance to corrosion.

GEMSTONE AND WOOD BEAD ENHANCEMENTS

We use hand-cut and polished wood and natural stone beads to enhance some of our jewelry and add colors not found in the puka shells themselves. We create many of our gemstone/wood beads ourselves, and our finished product suppliers do not participate in lumber/wood harvesting, farming, dredging, mining, or commercial manufacturing operations. Many of our gemstone and wood beads are obtained through barter or purchase from a consortium of small artisans to which we belong. Our gemstones are typically hand-cut and polished; our wood beads are cut, dyed, and finished by hand. Our coral is specially vetted, and only our master artisan can approve acceptance. Only beach-found and fossil coral is accepted, we do not use live coral, we do not accept any coral from fishermen, commercial or otherwise, live or dead, whether accidentally or deliberately brought up in nets.

Our wooden beads are hand cut and ground, from sustainable species found throughout tropical areas of the southern hemisphere: coco, mahogany, and gemerlina from the Philippines; wenge, burlwood and rubberwood from Malaysia; sandalwood, pine and oak from SE China; ebony, zebrawood and padauk from tropical Africa and South America.

We use a wide variety of natural stone beads in our Designer collection jewelry. Although some folks assign metaphysical properties to certain stones, we choose them simply for color. You will find jades, fossilized coral, turquoises, agates, jaspers, opals and a variety of unusual other stones. Most are cut and polished by hand, and all are natural stone. Very rarely, we may choose dyed or heat-treated stones for their unusual color, but if so this is clearly noted in the description.

We carry an inventory of over 350 natural gemstones and wooden beads for our jewelry.

OUR LIFETIME WARRANTY

MEASURING

Most of our necklaces and bracelets do not list a size, as we will customize almost any piece in stock to your requested length. Our pricing is logical, and simply by the fractional inch. Pieces that list a specific size cannot be modified. Necklaces and bracelets are sized by circumference of stringing with clasps. Most earrings cannot be modified. Note that the inner circumference of a piece is smaller than the stringing length.

We will help you through the process of ensuring the lay, looseness, or tightness of any piece ordered. We guarantee our measurements, these are natural products and we reserve a +/- 2mm variance.

Bracelets and anklets are very dependent on body size. Necklaces come in various lengths, depending on the “look” desired:

Most puka shell necklaces are worn in the “choker” or “princess” lengths, though we have customers that prefer the “collar” and “matinee” styles.

JEWELRY CARE

All of our jewelry is designed and made for continuous wear and exposure to the elements seen by daily ocean swimmers and kayakers, surfers, divers, boaters and spear fishermen. Simply wearing it while bathing or showering using your regular soap should keep it clean and bright.

An occasional short soak (10 minutes) in dish detergent or a 5-10% bleach solution will brighten and sanitize your jewelry as well as remove any “grunge” that finds its way into crevices or penetrations.

SPECIAL NOTE FOR CORAL

Unfossilized coral is porous, whether polished or not, particularly white sponge coral. We recommend removing the jewelry if applying any oil-based products such as skin lotions, makeup, or suntan lotion in the area of the jewelry. Over time, it will absorb natural skin oils. A simple soak in dish detergent or mild bleach solution, as above, will return your piece to its original color and luster. A bleach soak has the added benefit of strengthening the outer surface of the coral through ion exchange and your piece has already been treated this way in our process.

SPECIAL NOTE FOR WOODEN BEADS

We use 100% vegetable-based dyes and varnishes on our wooden beads. DO NOT USE BLEACH ON OUR WOODEN BEADS. We also recommend removal when swimming in chlorine or bromine treated pool water. To clean jewelry containing wooden beads, use a short soak (5 minutes) in a mild dish detergent solution, rinse and dry thoroughly in bright sunlight or warm air.

IN THE ALTERNATIVE, USE OF AN ULTRASONIC JEWELRY CLEANER IS PERFECTLY SAFE FOR ALL OF OUR JEWELRY.

With proper and very occasional care, your piece should last a very long time! Enjoy!