World's Biggest Pearl

[Dave Hounddriver]

3 minutes ago, canadamale said:

I wonder if he will be regretting  having said anything once he realizes how this is about to change his life?

Do you mean as in:

Come listen to a story about a man named Jed 
A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed, 

Edited August 26, 2016 by Dave Hounddriver

[canadamale]

37 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Do you mean as in:

Come listen to a story about a man named Jed 
A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed, 

Yes, except I do not see him moving to Beverly Hills. Only his life being changed, if he hid this for that many years, I do not believe he wanted the notoriety that he is now getting. When his family gets the smell of money look out.

[not so old china hand]

4 hours ago, canadamale said:

I was reading of this in my morning paper here in Canada.  I wonder if he will be regretting  having said anything once he realizes how this is about to change his life

I recall John Steinbeck wrote a novella "The Pearl" in which a poor Mexican family had their life destroyed by the discovery of a valuable pearl.

[not so old china hand]

On 08/25/2016 at 0:48 PM, robert k said:

Would not the shells of clams also be covered in pearl? I thought the really valuable pearl came from oysters?

AFAICR The nacreous lining of the shell is called "mother-of-pearl": used for buttons, and the scales on the handles of knives as well as on the revolvers carried by New Orleans pimps (the latter according to General Patton in the 1970s movie). Freshwater pearls, which are widely used in Chinese jewelry, come from freshwater mussels.

Edited August 26, 2016 by not so old china hand