Abalone Silver Earrings

Etymology and history Abalone (from Spanish abulón) is small to very large-sized edible sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Haliotidae and the genus Haliotis. Common names for abalones also include ear-shells, sea ears, as well as muttonfish or muttonshells in Australia, ormer in Great Britain, perlemoen and venus's-ears in South Africa and pāua in New Zealand. Abalone description The shell of abalones has a convex, rounded to oval shape, and may be highly arched or much flattened. It is generally earing shaped, presenting two to three whorls. The last whorl (known as the body whorl) is auriform such that the shell resembles an "ear", giving rise to the common name ‘ear-shell’. It also has a series of... more about abalone » | more about stones used in our jewelry »