Sunrise Shells

Sunrise shells are of the scallop family, Langford’s Pecten is the common name for these beautiful but very strong little shells. Sunrise shells have many different variations with the bright pink and and vivid yellow to orange being the dominate colors. They range in size from a dime to a silver dollar, about 35mm for an adult sunrise, since these shells are so perfectly formed, strong, colored in richness and hard to find they are sought after for exquisite Hawaiian shell leis or fine jewelry. Finding a Sunrise shell takes patience and a little luck. They wash up on the beaches with the large surf. If you want to find one you have to get out early or be at the right spot when the wave washes it up on the beach. I have read that Sunrise shells were once the exclusive property of the Hawaiian royalty.

These Sunrises were collected from the North Shore beaches of Hawaii. Sunrise treasure hunters are a little obsessive they get up before first light to hit the beaches looking for sunrise shells that wash in with the big waves, or when the water is calm they dive the trenches in hopes of finding just a single shell. No live shells are ever taken for any of the jewelry made on this site.

Caring for your Sunrise shell; Sunrises don’t always look spectacular when found, often they have calcium carbonate deposits on them. The shells on this sight have been scrubbed and cleaned, each shell gets about 20 minutes of intensive personal care before it is ready to be made into jewelry. To keep your sunrise looking bright, scrub with a little toothpaste and then polish with mineral oil. The toothpaste will shine up any metal your shell my be set in also.