Somewhat similar in appearance to coral is the conch jewelry, sets of
which have been sold for $300. The tint is exquisite, but liable to fade
when exposed to the sun. It is made from the great conch, common in
Southern Florida and the West Indies. The shells are imported into
Europe by thousands, and cut up into studs, sleeve-buttons, and various
articles of ornament. These conches are supposed to be the producers of
pink pearls, but I have opened hundreds of them and failed to find a
single pearl. The conch shell is used by the cameo cutter. Rome and
Paris are the principal seats of the trade, and immense numbers of
shell cameos are imported by England and America, and mounted in rings,
brooches, etc. The one showing a pale salmon-color upon an orange ground
is much used. In 1847, 300 persons worked upon these shells in Paris
alone, the number of shells used being immense. In Paris 300,000
helmet-shells were used in one year, valued at $40,000 of the bull's
mouth, 80,000, averaging a little over a shilling apiece, equal to
$34,000. Eight thousand black helmets were used, valued at $9,000. The
value of the large cameos produced in Paris in the year 1847 was about
$160,000, and the small ones $40,000. In the Wolfe collection of shells
at the Museum of Natural History, Central Park, is a fine specimen of
the queen conch from the Florida reef, with a fine head cut into the
outer surface, showing how it is done. The tools of the worker in cameos
are of the most delicate description. Fine files, knitting-needle like
implements, triangular-shaped steel cutters, are arranged in a seemingly
endless confusion before the worker. The shell or piece of shell to be
cut is either lashed or glued to a heavy block or held in the hand, and
the face, animal, or other object outlined first with a delicate lead;
having thus laid the foundation, the lines are gone over with a delicate
needle first, then various kinds, the work gradually growing before the
eye, reminding one of the work of the engraver on wood.