SPINY OYSTER TURQUOISE

Spiny oysters are not actually oysters; they're more closely related to scallops. They are bivalve mollusks who live in warm waters in the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California) on the Baja Peninsula and thrive from North Carolina to Brazil. The shells are a by product from the seafood trade.
No two of these natural stones look the same, making it as unique as it is beautiful. The oyster turquoise is made with real shell from the spiny oyster, which is combined with turquoise to create the beautiful unique patterns.
Andean people used spondylus shell as complete shells in rituals, cut into pieces and used as inlay in jewelry, and ground into powder and used as architectural decoration. Its form was carved into stone and made into pottery effigies; it was worked into body adornments and placed in burials.