Abernethy Pearl Tops Estimates at Auction

A buyer from Scotland paid £75,000 ($98,344) plus buyer’s premiums for the Abernethy Pearl, the largest Scottish freshwater pearl discovered in recent history. (Photo credit: Alex & Turnbull/Alex Robson)

Edinburgh, Scotland—The Abernethy Pearl, a Scottish freshwater pearl fished out of a river 57 years ago, topped its highest auction estimate and set a new world auction record.

After a brief competition among in-room, telephone, and online bidders, the hammer came down at £75,000 ($98,344) for the rare gemstone at Lyon & Turnbull’s “The Cairncross Collection” sale in Edinburgh on Wednesday.

Its pre-sale estimate was £40,000-£60,000 (approximately $52,000-$78,000). 

Including buyer’s premium, the total sale price was £93,591 ($122,705).

It is the most ever paid for a Scottish freshwater pearl at auction.

Lyon & Turnbull did not disclose who bought the gemstone—there was speculation as to whether officials from the museum in Perth, where the gemstone lived for years, would bid on it—saying only that the buyer was Scottish and was in the room for the auction.

“We are pleased to be able to say that The Abernethy Pearl has found a good home with its new buyer and will be staying in Scotland,” Lyon & Turnbull’s Head of Jewellery Ruth Davis said.

The Abernethy Pearl was named for the late William “Bill” Abernethy, a longtime pearl fisher who died in 2021 at the age of 96.

Abernethy was known as Scotland’s last pearl fisher. (Pearl fishing has been banned in Scotland since 1998 due to overfishing and pollution.)  

He found the pearl that came to bear his name in 1967, though he never disclosed the exact location of the discovery. 

Weighing 10.91 carats and measuring 10.5-10.6 mm in size, it is the largest Scottish pearl recovered in living history. It is topped in size only by the Kellie Pearl, which is set in the crown of Scotland. 

As expected, the Abernethy Pearl was the highest-grossing lot at “The Cairncross Collection,” a sale featuring pieces from Cairncross of Perth, a renowned Scottish jeweler that closed in July 2023 after 154 years in business.

All 173 lots sold, an occurrence known as a “white-glove sale” in auction parlance, totaling £242,567 ($318,103).

Other top lots included another piece featuring Scottish freshwater pearls, a single strand necklace of graduated pearls with an 18-karat gold clasp set with seed pearls and diamonds. It fetched £17,640 ($23,135).

A pair of milgrain-set diamond stud earrings from the early 20th century sold for £13,860 ($18,179). The diamonds are old European cut and weigh 2.01 and 2.06 carats. 

“Cairncross’s championing of Scottish pearls made them a world-famous destination,” Davis said. “It is wonderful that the world record price for The Abernethy Pearl, and the white-glove result for The Cairncross Collection as a whole, will cement this legacy.

“It has been a real pleasure to present this collection and see the admiration given to Cairncross from across the U.K. and beyond.”