Cassidy was photographed throughout his run on The Partridge Family as well as on his international concert tours wearing white puka shell chokers. It actually became somewhat of his calling card. While not alone in sporting the puka necklace (rat packer Frank Sinatra had even been photographed with a puka choker), David Cassidy was certainly the most frequent ambassador for this style. Even in first grade, I remember boys and girls wearing puka shells. Which, for a bunch of land-locked Northeast Pennsylvania kids, is amazing. Also, this was decades before cultural appropriation would become part of our everyday discourse.

So, what’s a puka shell?

For us haole kids (I’d learn the word “haole” a couple of years later in 1972 during the Brady Bunch Hawaii vacation episode), Puka just meant “shell necklace.” In 1970, if you found any string of shells, that was a puka shell necklace.

The work “puka” is Hawaiian in origin and means “hole.” Traditionally, puka shell necklaces were constructed from scavenged shell fragments that already had a naturally-occurring hole in them. A genuine puka shell necklace is sourced from the terminal helix of a cone snail. When the snail dies, the shell may eventually erode until the terminal helix breaks off. If the tip of the helix erodes further, it will leave a ring-shaped fragment of shell as a remnant. This natural bead was collected to create the original puka shell necklaces.

Thanks in large part to David Cassidy, demand for puka shell necklaces would skyrocket around the world throughout the 1970’s. To meet demand, any shells were sourced as raw material, and shells and shell fragments from snails and bivalves were cut and drilled to create “puka” beads. This high-volume puka production continues to this day, with the majority of these puka knock-offs coming from the Philippines.  Obviously, there are a plethora of conservation concerns related to the shell jewelry trade, but that’s another post.

Puka shells today remain a mainstay for tourists from Santa Cruz, to Daytona Beach, to Point Pleasant, to Ipanema, to Bondi Beach, to back home in Waikiki. They are part of the surfer phenotype.  A quick rummage through my cabinet of embarrassing and dated jewelry found a motley collection of assorted puka necklaces (from fake to authentic) that I once proudly wore.

But puka shell interest has also evolved. Today, the most prized shell lei and necklace demand is still found in Hawaii, but now its centralized on the small island of Ni‘ihau. There, traditional artists work with tiny ocean snail shells sourced only from the island and meticulously crafted (sometimes over the course of years) to produce exquisite shell necklace designs that can fetch tens-of-thousands of dollars. The traditional craft is so important to Hawaii that in 2004, the Hawaii State Legislature unanimously approved H.B. No. 2569 which prohibits the sale of “seashell items” with a description or label using the term “Ni‘ihau” or “Niihau” unless 100% of the shells are from the island of Ni‘ihau and the item is made entirely in Hawai‘i.

The Ni‘ihau shell-work is astonishingly intricate and beautiful. But shells are still assembled by punching a minuscule hole, a “puka,” in the micro-thin shell in order to pass a thread thread through.

A shell necklace or lei remains an expression of Aloha. “Aloha” can have rather broad definitions. But my time spent working in Hawaii over the years has taught me that it certainly can be used to express a “joyous affection.” It’s in that spirit that I extend my sincere “Aloha” to the memory of David Cassidy for his music and introducing this marine biologist to puka shells.

The post How David Cassidy Introduced A Hawaiian Shell To The World first appeared on Deep Sea News.

For a cool $125,000, you could be the belle of your next scientific conference ball, strutting in with this gorgeous “Jellyfish clip” attached to your LBD or BCD. Who wouldn’t want to be dripping in 2.97 carats of diamonds?

If shapeless invertebrates aren’t your thing, consider splurging on this “Two-fish clip” ($105,000), featuring 19th-century-inspired paillonné enamel fins:

Or perhaps the “Seahorse Clip”, where diamonds, amethyst, periodot and pink sapphire are nestled within an 18k gold and platinum lattice ($54,000):

And finally, at only $4,500 these diamond and green enamel “Shell ear clips” are are absolute bargain – why, they’re so glamorous they nearly pay for themselves!

The post Undersea jewelry (and sparkling diamonds) from Tiffany & Co. first appeared on Deep Sea News.

The post Miriam Warns of Diving with Jewelry in Ocean Story Slam! first appeared on Deep Sea News.

Symbol, Substance, and Significance will be a comprehensive examination of this astonishing organism, exploring its place in both the natural world and in the realm of culture where it has been a traditional material for art objects and jewelry. Beginning with the role of coral within the reef and the criticality of coral reefs to ocean ecology – and thus to human existence – we will turn to forces threatening reef survival, and to efforts being made by scientists, governments, and nongovernmental organizations to protect and restore them. We will address laws and treaties formulated to govern trade in coral, a substance that has been termed “too precious to wear.” And we will examine coral in history, both its evolving associations over time and its traditional place in the wunderkammer. Last, we will explore its changing role and use in jewelry, art, and fashion, with specific discussion of the move both to the mimetic use coral alternatives and the symbolic use of coral as an inspiration. Initiatives in Art and Culture has a long-standing commitment to explorations both of cultural patrimony and of art and ornament. In Coral, we again celebrate the object by placing it in the broadest possible context, discussing strategies and approaches to ensuring its sustainability.

Among those who have agreed to speak are: Michael Kowalski, Chairman and CEO of Tiffany & Co.; Richard E. Dodge, professor and dean, Nova Southeastern University (NSU) Oceanographic Institute and Executive Director of the Center’s Coral Reef Institute (NCRI); Michele Oka Doner, artist whose breadth of artistic production encompasses public art, sculpture, furniture, jewelry, and functional objects, a significant number of which draw inspiration from coral and the sea; Godfrey Reggio, producer and director, who is prominent in the film world for his Qatsi trilogy (Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, and Naqqyqatsi, music by Philip Glass) which conveys a humanist philosophy about the earth, chronicling the destructive impact of the modern world on the environment, and for Anima Mundi, (music also by Philip Glass); David Wolfe, creative director and chief forecaster of Doneger and Co.; Sarah Graham, jeweler whose point of departure for her coral inspired work are the plates of the zoologist and contemporary of Darwin, Ernst Haeckel, published in Art Forms in Nature; Steve D’Esposito, president RESOLVE and formerly president, Earthworks Action; Dawn Martin, president of SeaWeb; and Géza von Habsburg, an art historian who has served as chairman of two auction houses and whose numerous publications include Princely Treasures (1997) and several definitive volumes on Fabergé. The conference is organized by Lisa Koenigsberg, president and founder, Initiatives in Art and Culture.

The post Coral: Symbol, Substance, and Significance first appeared on Deep Sea News.

In Sheryl’s own words…

I’m a sculptor and jewelry designer from Maine. I work primarily in polymer clay and mixed media. My work is inspired by fantasy, nature, and my beloved cephalopods.

I just found Noadi’s Art Blog when Sheryl commented here at DSN a few days ago.  I have been moving through the posts there quickly as I discover very sweet art like this and this. Head on over read, comment, and comission some jewerely (I am looking at you Janet V.)

The post A Blog About Cephalopod Sculpture and Jewerly… first appeared on Deep Sea News.