Puka shell

[citation needed] The original all-natural puka shells were very easily made into necklaces, bracelets and anklets because they were naturally pierced, which enabled them to be strung like beads.

Such jewellery were often gifted by Hawaii's royal families to foreign dignitaries,[1] but it was only during the tourism boom of the 1960s, after the islands' admission into the US, that it became massively popular as an attractive and inexpensive lei that could be made and sold on the beach.

In the 1970s, this type of shell jewelry became highly sought after by celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor and prices skyrocketed.

Naturally-formed rounded cone shell fragments suitable to be used as beads are hard to find in large quantities, so true puka jewelry, formed entirely naturally, is now uncommon.

Cone snail shells are sometimes harvested so that they can be chipped and ground down to make more authentic-looking puka jewellery, which is however still not genuine by the standards of the originals.