Rare treasure

It's rare to find a pearl in a clam, much more so than in an oyster, but that's exactly what happened to Danny Wyndham of Huger some 40 years ago.

He's held on to the clam pearl all these years, showing it to a few people, but mostly keeping it to himself. Wyndham and his late wife talked about making it into a ring for her, but that never happened.

Now, on harder times, Wyndham wants to know how much the pearl is worth. His retirement investments took a beating in the stock market. At age 63, he is going back to work harvesting clams behind the Isle of Palms and Sullivan's Island. "Any offer I would get for it, I would probably sell it," Wyndham said.

He found the clam with the pearl inside near Bull's Bay while digging clams for his supper. He said that he also found a mastodon tooth that way. He plans to go to New York City in the near future to have the pearl appraised. Wyndham said he has never found another clam pearl.

Antoinette Matlins of Woodstock, Vt., author of "The Pearl Book: The Definitive Buying Guide," said the value of a clam pearl can range from negligible to six figures. She said offering the gem to a natural pearl dealer would be a way to test its value.

She said the so-called quahog pearl in clams is quite rare, but the condition of the gem is what determines its price. "It's one of the rarest and most precious gems when it is of good quality," she said.

She said the gem that Wyndham found sounds like a "button" pearl because it is round on the top and flat on the bottom. They can be used for rings and earrings, she said.

Although there are no hard figures, it has been estimated that the odds of finding a clam pearl are 1 in 50,000, compared with 1 in 25,000 for an oyster pearl, Matlins said.

"It's extremely rare. I've never heard of a pearl in a clam," said Bill Anderson, director of the shellfish management section of the state Department of Natural Resources.

The quahog pearl is unique to American waters and found in the Atlantic ocean.

Wyndham, who was born and raised in Awendaw, said he didn't want to reveal the exact location where he found the clam with the pearl inside. He would say only that it was found on a tributary of Bull's Bay about a mile from the bay. He has kept the pearl under lock and key all these years. "I've never found one since. I've looked at many a thousand," he said.