Abalone Punch Out Boy

by Rick
(Morro Bay, CA)

Hello! My name is Rick. I have lived in Morro Bay, CA. since birth. My family was in the abalone industry since the 1940's. My father was a hard hat diver and we all worked in the processing plant day and night. During those years we found thousands of pearls usually in the very old and poor quality abalones. We left most of them on the punch out table but saved a few. My father recently passed at the age of 87. He saved a few of the really neat pearls and I have them now. One of them is about 10-12 millimeters in diameter, and almost perfect round. It is brilliant white and softly colored. If I can get a picture of it I will send it to you. Funny thing is we used to punch out 300 to 5oo dozen abalones a day at times. There is no one on this planet that can take an abalone out of a shell faster than me, but that does nothing for a resume today. I also can find pearls better than any one. Anyway I'm glad to see some interest in the pearls. I did sell one about 15 years ago to a Japanese woman for 500 dollars, I wish I would have kept it!