Shimmering with an opal shine: New Zealand's unique blue pearls face threat of warming seas

In New Zealand only a handful of farms produce pearls from abalone, known as p?ua, but the molluscs need delicate conditions to surviveRoger Beattie was diving off the Chatham Islands, about 800km east of New Zealand, when he saw his first p?ua pearl. Beattie was familiar with p?ua, the M?ori word for abalone, and their iridescent shells of shimmering purples and greens. But the pearl that had formed inside was unlike anything he had ever seen, gleaming with layers of the p?ua's natural colours."I just thought 'heck, that would make amazing jewellery,'" Beattie says. Continue reading...