Zoila jeaniana 72.2mm GEM+ BLACK BASE RAREST QUOBBA JEWEL SUPERB BEAUTY

Description

Dear collector friends: my name is Gisela and I am a private seller at Ebay. The seashell offered here comes from my personal collection and was taken many years ago; please
read the following description carefully and be advised that all rules as postulated by ebay for private sellers apply to all my ebay transactions. Thank you for your continued interest and friendship,
best wishes from Gisela
Zoila jeaniana 72.2mm GEM+ BLACK BASE RAREST QUOBBA JEWEL SUPERB BEAUTY  FROM PRIVATE SHELL COLLECTION
1. Identification ref
k032
:   Zoila jeaniana (Cate, 1968), northwest off Bernier Island, Western Australia, collected in a fold of a sponge by ROV in 118m depth, live taken specimen shell.
2. Description
:      Uniform carbon black base, just one remark please before starting because this is going to be a lengthy introduction and I think such a special shell is worth reading my thoughts in full detail: Australia is an isolated and ancient continent. That makes the fauna and flora carrying genes of extremely old parentage and diversity. When I think about genuine species in plants and look into one of the famous Aussie families e.g. Cycadaceae then I find fully valid taxa which can hardly be distinguished by just comparing leafs and trunks only, but which become obvious when comparing flowering time and pollinators. We always need to keep in mind that postulating a species just from observing a dead shell is likely to be misleading in many cases. Recent genetic data makes the Quobba form of the jeaniana a true species. And I tend to believe that others will follow. In fact we are gathering the ashes of the genetic variety of species that have been still out there less than 100 years ago. I think no other area has seen such dramatic changes in recent decades than Australia. Many of the marginata complex species have been lost and no tissue has ever been collected. When I show you my shells including these rarities then one can’t help to feel sorry for the lost opportunities. We lost the habitat and the species and the data. To come to the point, I am making a strong point against producing new species in general but specifically speaking about the Aussie fauna and flora I am convinced that there are many more valid taxa than we even begin to understand. This piece here is remarkable because it mimics the typical jeaniana but differs in some characteristics. It belongs to a very limited local population which is, or was, characterised by a uniform carbon black base without the slightest discolouration. When I saw it the first time it took my breath away, and I think you will feel the same when you have the shell on the hand: this is a flawless piece of art and a shell of such rare and outstanding beauty that it will easily find a place among the finest and most exquisite seashells ever collected. The pictures as published here give only a faint idea of the shell itself, but is you study them in XL size then you will be able to imagine what I am talking about. The shell is fully mature, flawless, and of most fabulous color and pattern. I am offering this piece at a very special price which does not fully compensate the immense effort both physical as material that originally went into its acquisition. A highly important shell suitable for a world class collection. Preserved in genuine all natural condition, of gem+ grading and fresh as if it was collected just the other day because this one was kept under museum storage condition, and its maturity and perfection will make sure it will not deteriorate and it will not loose its magic color and gloss which is lamentably so often the case in immature shells and those that have been handled carelessly.
That makes all documented material of prime importance for the future. And now I present this shell, one of only two I ever had, the other one long gone to an important private collection, this is the only genuine jeaniana of saturated golden color in my hands, a true jeaniana and I made my point in the introduction above to make sure you see this shell as it is, not an aurata, but rather a fully mature jeaniana in shape with ultra rare golden color. Something like the golden variations of the rosselli, and equally rare and valuable. A superb shell and only for the true connoisseur.
3. Pictures: All pictures are recently taken from the original shell which is actually offered for sale; in the process of photographing I employed a 14Mb Camera, and I guarantee for all my pictures that they are not retouched in any way: they represent the respective shell as is, in highest resolution, and they were taken from different angles in order to make clearly visible all the finest details, and there is nothing to hide. All these pictures (and additional ones you might wish to see) are available on request; please feel free to contact me by e-mail to obtain them. All pictures as published here remain my property and are copyright-protected.
4. Size: Shells are measured by plastic calliper, and size is given in millimetres. Please allow a slight degree of variation since this is not a digital measurement. The size given is always the largest extension of the respective specimen: in snails this is usually the length from apex to siphon, but in some cases the measurement from the tip of the shoulder (or wing) to the siphon is larger, and consequently the size given; in spiny shells the size always includes the spines, that goes for snails as much as for bivalves like the spiny oyster; bivalves are generally easy to measure but please keep in mind that in Pectinidae the largest size is usually from the left ear diagonally over the body. If in doubt please ask for more information.
5. General remarks: My private collection of seashells was acquired during more than four decades, and I was lucky to benefit from personal contacts all over the world at an early stage. It all started in 1956 when visiting London where I came across a venerable old Chinaman running a curious restaurant in Soho: nothing much about shells you think? Well, he wanted to introduce me to culinary aspects of giant clams and I was hooked instantly, but not on the dish he served, in fact I did never come to appreciate the meat of bivalves much less snails! Coming to the point I left London six months later with several Tridacna shells of enormous dimensions. In the following years I always carried shells when travelling and especially the 70's, glorious times which were the true heydays of incredible plenty combined with a still poorly developed market for the amateur conchologist. Most shells came in exchange and only slowly I started to form a relationship with some prestigious dealers and over the years many of my most important pieces came from sources which have been famous in their time, mostly from Thomas and Paula Honker of Florida, or Mr. P. Clover, just to name two of my regular suppliers in the USA; I also ventured to have shells directly imported from South Africa (the Meyer collection) and thanks to my particular knowledge of South America I was always having very interesting material from Spanish speaking countries, from Caribbean down to Patagonia. Many of these areas are long closed and shells are only available from old collections like in the case of Galapagos (I consider myself lucky to know Dr. Gustavo Noboa personally) or more recently the Noumea Lagoon of New Caledonia (some of its treasures came to me via the Pierson collection).
6. Shipping and Export Permits: Shipping expenses as indicated are for standard air mail only. Excellent packing and handling is always free of charge. Registration is optional, and I strongly recommend to register all parcels for your safety, please indicate when ordering and add the optional USD 5.00 charge once for each parcel. For valuable shells I suggest in some cases value declared and fully insured. When ordering more than one shell then please feel free to ask for postage quotation, there might be a considerable discount available: as a general rule, I only charge actual shipping expenses. Some countries outside the European Community may require special documentation for customs including protected wildlife and fishery certificates and, in some cases, CITES. All these certificates can be obtained for you on request at actual cost, please contact me for further details.
7. Special requests: Please don't hesitate to contact me personally to discuss special requests, I shall be glad to attend you by e-mail individually and share my knowledge of seashells with you.
8. Returns: Any shell can be returned within three days of receipt, no questions asked. Please note that this is strictly a private sale, and I do offer this service on a voluntary basis to all collectors. I kindly ask buyers to make themselves responsible for all shipping expenses involved, and I expect to receive the returned shell in exactly the same condition as sent. The refund given as merchandise credit can be used on any other item from my ebay store without any restrictions.