Offered without a minimum reserve

Incredibly large 22.50 carat natural round snow gold Caribbean queen conch pearl.

To bid on this lot, please complete the form: Guernsey's Bidder Agreement and return it by email to sjaffe@guernseys.com or by fax at 212-744-3638.

The "Soul of the Caribbean" is representative of the joy of discovering objects of great beauty when they are least expected. Such was the origin of Marcial de Gomar's passion for conch pearls, ignited by a beautiful pink pearl traded to him for a half dozen lobsters during his time living on the San Bernardo Islands. Marcial became captivated by conch pearls, which are of such rarity that it requires an average of ten to fifteen thousand conchs just to find a single pearl among them. He has since become a global name and authority in natural queen conch pearls sought out by connoisseurs, collectors and experts from around the world. In 2009 the Marcial de Gomar Conch Pearl Color Description Guide was released and shared within the appraising industry as a service to easily describe colors of the Strombus Gigas pearls for dealers and appraisers.

Conch pearls occur in a wide variety of shapes ranging from baroque to oval and, very occasionally, round. This magnificent round snow gold pearl (white primary color with gold hue as secondary) gives new meaning to the word "rare," which is so often subject to hyperbole. Conch pearls in sizes of 3 to 6 carats of any shape are considered large and collector size, and a 2 carat round queen conch pearl is considered large. The "Alma Caribe," at 22.50 carats of natural Caribbean queen conch pearl (regarded by many as the rarest of all gems) is the largest round queen conch pearl ever encountered by Marcial de Gomar in his 60 years of familiarity with these treasures of the ocean.

Accompanied by GIA Report 1152782346 of December 24, 2013