Woman finds rare $600 pearl in pasta

A woman almost swallowed a rare purple pearl worth $600 (£430) after biting down on the gem while tucking into a bowl of clam pasta.

A black pearl, similar to the one found by Mrs Hasz

Lindsay Hasz was dining at an Italian restaurant in Issaquah, Washington, when she bit down on “something really hard”, as reported by ABC News.

“I felt like I almost broke my tooth when I first bit it”, she said. “It was pretty dark in the restaurant, so it was hard to tell what it was, but when I looked at it closer, it looked totally round and perfect.”

Hasz took the pearl to gemologist Ted Irwin, president of the Northwest Geological Laboratory and director of the Northwest Geological Institute, who identified it to be a rare Quahog pearl. The pearl is only found in clams indigenous to the New England area, with Irwin saying the chances of finding a natural gem of such quality to be “one in a couple million”.

Irwin estimated the purple gem to be a little over one carat and worth US$600. Hasz has said he intends on turning the pearl into a necklace to wear as a good luck charm.