Queen Conch Jewelry

The idea to make jewelry from the Queen Conch shell started when In November last year Marjon and Rien te Hennepe, artist friends of ours, dedicated beachcombers and mondi (cactus forest) explorers, found a large bunch of broken queen conch shells at Boka Grandi, a large bay on the northwest coast of Curacao and part of the Wakawa plantation.

The shells, collected by poachers, were beaten with a rock in order to get the large snail, which is considered an aphrodisiac in local folklore. The empty, broken shell was left behind. Marjon and Rien collected all the big, pink shells in the back of their pick-up truck, took them home and phoned us asking if I had any interest in broke-up queen conch shells. My answer was fast and to the point, “Yes, please”. That’s how I acquired this bunch of shells to work on.

Upon close inspection I found that the parts nearest the impact where the shell was hit by a rock showed many fine but deep fractures. This rendered those parts worthless for my work. The best part turned out to be the heavy, thick lip at the end of the shell. From this lip, which in some shells is 1½ inches thick, I was able to carve with diamond power bits cooled with a steady stream of water, the pretty white and pink seahorses, turtles, hearts and all sorts of marine miniatures. To Marjon and Rien – Thank you very much.

Queen conch as found in the Mondi	Beautifull sculptures

Queen Conch earrings                                                Queen Conch pendant