Sea pearls, sea hearts or nickernuts

As some of you might know I’m not a big fan of shopping in general but I do love junk shopping! Not for the bargain but for the thrill of the hunt! And I also like the idea that there is a story behind every item.

The other day I came across this necklace.


At first I thought it was made out of some special kind of buckeyes, probably originating in Africa. This assumption turned out to be completely wrong. After doing some research on the internet I discovered that I should be looking in a different part of the world, particularly in the Caribbean and Florida Keys.

Even though they usually look like large seeds or nuts and they are often called nickernuts, they are from the bean family and are not nuts at all.
They come in many sizes, shapes and colors.

Their life begins in a tropical rain forest where they fall into a stream or river and are then carried out to sea where they may float great distances before washing up onto a beach. Then the beachcombers collect them and make them into jewelry such as my necklace.
What a journey!