Rare pearl discovered in Pa. couple’s clam order appraised at over $4K - PennLive

A Pennsylvania couple was pleasantly surprised to find a rare pearl in their food at a restaurant over the summer.

They've recently had another rather nice surprise after they had the pearl appraised.

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PennLive previously reported in August how Phoenixville resident, Scott Overland, had been at the Salt Air in Rehobeth Beach, Del. with his wife, Katie, when they noticed something extra had come with their order of clams.

"At first my wife thought it was, like, a bead or one of those—it looked like one of those dot candies on the paper," later told Overland to NBC 10 Philadelphia. "We thought the chef dropped something in there.

"As we were looking at the shell, we saw this little indentation on the shell, inside the clam where it was growing, so we figured it was probably something from inside the clam."

The Overlands had also almost sent the clam order back due to an unwanted bell pepper garnish, although good thing they didn't, as that candy-looking object ended up being a rare purple pearl. Once they realized what had come in their dish, the Overlands decided to keep it and have it appraised.

PhillyVoice reports that that appraisal by Josh Hyman of Philadelphia Jewelry Appraisers in Center City has valued the pearl at $4,071. However, Hyman notes that the exact sale price for the pearl is difficult to confirm exactly due to how rare it is.

"You're beholden to what's available in the market," explains Hyman to the news publication. "This is not a real market because 10 to 20 per decade doesn't constitute a market. It's that rare. Sometimes rarity doesn't equate to value.

"A large diamond might be less rare than this pearl, but there are a lot more people who would buy that large diamond than this pearl."

The Overlands confirmed they have decided to keep the pearl as opposed to selling it.