03/10/2022
A little information and history of Pukas.
■Puka shells are a roundish naturally lacquered bead made from specific conch shells of varying sizes that wash back and forth with the tides, polishing and eventually breaking away from the tail end, leaving just the round head that in time develops a small Puka(puka is the Hawaiian word for hole). Pukas are rare and found in very few places around the world just below the tropic of cancer. Places like Hawaii, Punta de Mita in México and reportedly as far as Thailand, The Philippines, India and Africa. They have been collected by locals in Punta de Mita for generations and turned into necklaces and other jewelry that are considered to bestow good luck. In the 60's and 70's surfers, hippies and American pop stars like David Cassidy started wearing them as a fashion item, by the early 80's China had begun mass production of a perfectly round cut out version made from other shells. Through the 90's fake Puka shell necklaces became all the rage and could be seen sported by just about every college student in the United States of America, eventually inspiring similar necklaces made of colorful plastic and even candy.
To detect and avoid fakes from real look closely, then you will notice a natural spiral formed by what is left of what once was a conch shell.