100g (3.5oz) Polished Paua Shell pieces, Medium (2 - 4cm) Arts Crafts Chips

Description

For your consideration, here we have 100g of medium sized (approx. 2 – 4 cm) paua shell chips. The images provided are a general reference of what a batch of 100 g contains. On occasion, some shell pieces may contain natural holes. Every shell piece in every batch is inspected before shipment to eliminate any broken pieces. Since crude postal handling might do damage, we include free extra shells in each shipment.
Paua is a word in the language of the Māori, the natives of New Zealand. It describes large, univalve, edible sea-snails found only in New Zealand's coastal waters, notably off the rugged, gale-swept coasts off Fiordland and Stewart Island. Scientifically, these snails belong to the abalone family (the Haliotidae). In keeping with the grammar rules of its original language, Māori, the word, paua, designates both the
singular
and
plural of the animal or parts thereof. Paua shells differ greatly from conventional abalone shells.
They exhibit vivid opalescent patterns with brilliant blue, green, and purple iridescence and playfully catch glints of light when viewed from different angles. As such, paua is prized worldwide, especially among artists. It has been used extensively in all types of jewelry, as an enhancement in fashion (e.g. paua buttons) and remains to this day as an inlay-accent applied to parts of numerous, high-quality, musical instruments. The hardness of paua is estimated between 3 and 3.5 (i.e. the same or similar to MOP or conventional abalone). When shaping, cutting or grinding, it is advisable to wear a quality canister-style respiratory mask in a well ventilated area.