Rare Silk

The rarest silk in the world is not from a silkworm, but from the secretion of a rare endangered clam called a pen shell. The secreted filaments are called byssus, a fiber that is amber with a golden sheen, finer than human hair and very warm. It was used in antiquity and the early Chinese called it sea silk or mermaid silk. There are thought to be only 100 specimens in the world, and most are in natural history museums. A 1920-1930 byssus sea silk knitted turban was sold recently at Augusta Auctions for $14,400 to an investor.