Information

GENERAL INFORMATION

SHELL QUALITY
GEM	- are perfect specimens. No flaws visible to the naked eye and are fully adult with fully formed teeth (Cowries), and firm edges (Cones), not paper thin.
GEM-	- have a very minor flaw or blemish almost undetectable. Appear to be perfect.
F+++	- have a noticeable very minor flaw or blemish.
F++	- have two or more noticeable very minor flaws, blemish's or chips but are still excellent specimens.
F+	- have a noticeable flaw or growth line or a number of blemishes, a chip or minor chips.Specimens of this quality still make a valuable contribution to any collection e.g. Cones often fall into F+/F++ because of delicate chipped edges.
F (fine)	- have very noticeable growth scars, flaws, blemishes or bigger chips or numerous small chips or a combination of flaws.
G (good)	- have major imperfections - large chips, broken spires, unsightly growth scars, loss of gloss or color, are juvenile or numerous smaller faults.

All shell quality grading is done with the naked eye only.
The grading of a shell is very personal i.e. what is a minor flaw to one person is more than minor to another. For this reason I will describe in detail the quality of any shell enquired about,so you may make an informed decision. On my rare shells I can provide photos.
Please Note: Grading of specimens is done on the shell only, whether the shell was alive or dead when found, in my opinion is irrelevant. If a specimen is Gem quality - what does it matter whether it was alive or fresh dead when found, it is still a Gem quality specimen.
It is almost impossible to obtain some shells in "Gem" condition because of there rarity or the habitat where they live or their delicate construction or the way they are collected (trawled in nets) so a slightly imperfect beautiful shell will not detract from your collection.
Please note that shells listed, are available at the time of this site being loaded. My stock is changing daily so I cannot guarantee your request will still be available. I have listed only one shell of each species but there may be numerous shells available under that name, ranging in quality and price, so please dont hesitate to enquire about a specimen, and I will provide full details on availability, price and quality.

BUYING COLLECTIONS:

Please contact me if you have a collection or special shells you would like to sell as I am always interested in adding to my collection.

Please choose and click on a shell family or other site pages.