18ct Abalone Pearl Pendant

by Rowena
(Murphys, CA, USA)

My husband buys gold/silver for a living in California. Years ago, someone came into his store and sold him a heavy pendant that is custom made 18k gold, full of small pave diamonds. They, as well as my husband, did not know what the "stone" was within the mounting. As it turns out, the gold surrounded a natural abalone pearl...but at first when he bought it, he did not recognize that it was not simply an abalone "shell"...and the person that sold it to him knew nothing about it...saying that they inherited it. After my husband researched it for a few days, he gave it to me as an anniversary gift, saying "THIS is THE pearl of Great Price as like the Bible talks about". It is a beautiful and well formed pearl (not a gnarly ugly/weird shape)...pale pastel iridescent colors in pink, purple, blue and a little green. It is the exact shape of an egg plant (very much symmetrical) rather than the shape of a shark tooth or "horn"...so it was NOT formed in the gonad of the abalone...but rather, some other body part?

My husband has since departed from our marriage (seeking greener pastures), and I need to know exactly what I have and the value of it...also, how I can sell it (Ebay does not work for me)? He stuck me with VERY large debt at his departure...but I do have this pendant. I can send pictures of it. I would estimate the weight of the pearl alone at over 100 carats by weight...not including the gold...I can weigh the entire piece by grams or by carats, but cannot easily remove the pearl to do this. The pearl alone is approx 1.5" high x 1" wide at the lower widest part...and maybe 8mm thick. It has a slight natural curve to it like a potato chip. Would you be interested in seeing pictures of it?? Could you tell me where my most promising places are to sell it? I need to pay him for his share of our house in order to keep a roof over my/sons head.

Thank you,
Rowena