Puka Shells

I found 2 puka shells today. Puka shells were all the rage in the 70s and 80s but now it's so hard to find puka shells that to get a genuine puka shell necklace or bracelet can be pretty costly. I'm not talking about the kind of puka shell necklace that's from the Philippines and really cheap I'm talking about real genuine puka shells, the kind that is actually found rolling in the surf.

The word puka means hole in Hawaiian. So with puka shell enthusiasts if you find the top of a cone shell and the puka hasn't formed, then you take it home and drill a hole in it, it is not considered to be a genuine "puka" shell. Wikipedia has a good write up on puka shells, the best one I've seen so far. I feel fortunate to have amassed quite a collection of puka shells, all collected here on Maui by me, my children, and grandson :) We will not sell whole puka shell necklaces, those are reserved for private use. My son has one, my grandson has one, my son in law has one, and both of my daughters have one. The leftovers we use for jewelry. Here's a couple of jewelry items we made with puka shells ~