UNIQUE PEARL.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18015, 6 March 1924, Page 2

UNIQUE PEARL.

TREASURE FOR EMPIRE EXHIBITION.

(FBflM OVB. OHW CORRESPONDENT.) SYDNEY, February 23. European connoisseurs in pearls who visit the British Empire Exhibition will receive a surprise when they see what Australia can produce in the shape of a beautiful and extraordinary pearl which has been found at Port Iledland, in West Australia. Tho weight of tho gem is estimated at between 60 and 70 grains, and were it spherical, it is said that its. value would certainly run into several thousand pounds. It is three-storoyed, and its freak shape, whilo rendering it entirely remarkable, detracts from its value, which is nevertheless estimated at some hundreds of pounds. The upper storey is a beautiful dome, the base of which is marked by a complete and perfectly even narrow band of black. Then the gem contracts in graceful curves to a short thin stem, only to swell again to an almost complete globe of smaller diameter than the top dome. The bottom of this is slightly flattened and marked by another narrow black band, while below a small button forms the third storey. The whole ' is as perfectly symmetrical aa if it had been turned on a lathe by some master-craftsman. Two such gems would make a magnificent pair of ear-ring pendants, but the world might well be searched for a lifetime without finding a counterpart to this unique specimen of the pearl-oyster's work.