High fantasy jewelry fashioned with shells from the house of Marie Trani. Photo courtesy Marie Trani. Handout via The Gourmet Gazette

These are carefully selected sea shells sourced from the beaches and crystal blue waters of Corsica. French artist and jewelry creator Marie Trani transforms each shell and a portion of the shell of a turban snail into exotic jewels after carefully crafting gold leaf upon them. A hole is delicately pierced into each shell which is then strung onto a gold-filled or stainless steel chain. Her latest collection is called Coqui-Coqui, the French word for shell is coquille. 

High fantasy jewelry fashioned with shells from the house of Marie Trani. Photo courtesy Marie Trani. Handout via The Gourmet Gazette

©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette 

Some of her creations are made with part of the shell of a species of turban snail, specifically the Bolma rugosa whose golden operculum — a lid that the sea snail uses to close the shell’s opening, — is called the « Eye of Santa Lucia », which has historically been much prized in jewelry making. The Rough Star Turban, its common, name,  is a large turbinid found in the Mediterranean Sea and its adjacent regions and is abundant off of the island of Corsica, known as the Île de Beauté, Isle of Beauty in French. Marie Trani is a young high end fantasy jewellery brand born in Bonifacio, Corsica. Today Marie Trani, herself an artist, creates each unique piece drawing inspiration from the Mediterranean Sea and the exuberance of nature. https://marietrani.com/

©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette 

High fantasy jewelry fashioned with shells from the house of Marie Trani. Photo courtesy Marie Trani. Handout via The Gourmet Gazette