Talleres De Los Ballesteros Sterling Silver Abalone Shell Pin

This pin was made by sometime after 1950 by Miguel Alonzo, a jewelry designer for Talleres de los Ballesteros located in the historic silver mining city of Taxco, Mexico.  Talleres de los Ballesteros was founded by Lebanese immigrant and silver trader Jalil Majul Ballesteros in 1937.  This world reknown company continues to design high quality silver items and jewelry today. 

Abalone, a marine mollusk, is an edible delicacy, and its shell is also used for decorative purposes.  The pin above is a great example of how this shimmering shell (which comes in colors such as red, black, green, and white) is used in the design of personal adornments and jewelry.  Many people believe that abalone and mother-of-pearl are the same thing, but they are not.  Mother-of-pearl is actually iridescent "nacre," a layer found predominately in the shells of the abalone, but also in other mollusks such as oysters and the nautilus.

Feel free to contact me if you are interested in purchasing this piece.  Questions, comments, and additional information are always appreciated.  My online shop on http://www.ebay.com/ is coming soon.

Thank you to the following website(s) for the historical content of this blog post:

Ehow. Retrieved 2/16/2011 from http://www.ehow.com/about_5057161_abalone-jewelry.html

Ballesteros. Retrieved 2/16/2011 from http://ballesteros.net/

Texas Woman's University. Retrieved 2/16/2011 from http://www.twu.edu/som/Mexico_website/som/Mexico_website/ballesteros.html