Precious Rare Pearl

Precious rare pearl found while eating mussels.

A woman eating mussels she had collected for her dinner was stunned after she nearly swallowed a rare pearl.

Tamsyn Bond picked up dozens of the shelled molluscs during a trip to the Helford estuary in Cornwall.

She returned home and cooked them but when she began to eat them she had a bit of a shock.

She said: "I took a bite into the first mussel and thought I'd come across a bit of grit or sand and promptly spat it out. I heard a crunch and after having a quick look to see what it was, I saw this perfect round pearl, much to my astonishment."

Tamsyn, a hotel owner in Mousehole, Cornwall, added: "I've heard of people finding pearls in oysters, but not mussels. I'm going to keep it very safe."

Natural pearls form without any human intervention and are very rare – found in just one per cent of mussels.

More about finding a precious rare pearl

Have you ever found a pearl?