In Britain, the Romans first discovered natural pearls in many Scottish rivers, including the Tay, The Dee and the Tweed. Indeed, today, the rivers and freshwater of Scotland are home to half the worlds population of freshwater pearl mussels, but only 61 known breeding sites are left in the country. That said, the mussel populations continue to fall each year, making freshwater Scottish pearls more and more of a rarity.
Amongst famous Scottish pearl finds, are the Kellie pearl (1621) now residing in the Scottish Crown Jewels, and more recently, the Abernathy pearl. The Abernathy was discovered in 1967, when William Abernathy was pearl fishing in the Tay. An excellent white in colour, spherical in shape, this beauty weighed in at 34 grains, and measures 11.6mm. Given its quality, size, shape and colour, this fabulous natural pearl rivals many of the cultured and Tahitian pearls that can be seen on the market today. Now owned by Cairncross Jewellers of Perth, (purchased for an undicsclosed sum) the pearl can be viewed at their shop in St John Street.
Scottish Freshwater pearls are now fiercly protected under national conservation laws similar to other protected species such as the red squirrel. Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 it is an offence to kill, injure, take, intentionally disturb or damage their habitat; or sell, offer or expose for sale, advertise for sale and transport for sale any freshwater pearl mussel or its pearls without a licence from the Scottish Executive, and even then, a licence issued by the Scottish Executive only permits the sale of pearls obtained prior to 1998. Illegal sales of freshwater pearls carry a penalty of up to six months imprisonment and a maximum fine of £5,000 under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Although it is illegal to fish for freshwater pearl mussels, monitoring work shows that plundering still goes on in many parts of the country, which is damaging extremely fragile populations of this endangered species. One or two jewellers in Scotland selling antique jewellery and pearls obtained before the ban came into force retain the right to sell Scottish pearls, and they can soley be bought from these sources.
Elsewhere in the world natural pearls can still be found but, as in Scotland, they are uncommon and expensive to buy. I n the USA , a selection of natural pearls can be found in various areas, and in Bahrain pearl divers still dive to the sea floor to look for rare pearl bearing molluscs. Other types of mollusc also produce pearls., although these are much rarer and less like the traditional items we view as pearls. Some of these are discussed in other articles.
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