If you're in New England, visit our store and showroom in Dunstable, Massachusetts. The quahog can yield purple or white beads, but the whelk only produces white. Traditionally, wampum was a cylinder-shaped bead, although early wampum was more like a disk. In the 17th and 18th centuries, people wore wampum necklaces and belts, and they used wampum like money. The value of wampum was, and still is, mostly in the work that goes into shaping and drilling the beads.
Most quahogs have some purple in their shells.
But only a small percentage of quahogs have enough purple in their shells to make wampum that's mostly purple. Purple wampum has always been harder to find, harder to make, and worth more, than white wampum. Our wampum is about twice as long and twice as thick as 17th century wampum. We try to make our beads as large as possible, which today's jewelry designers prefer. We want to carry on the tradition of wampum, not to make exact historic replicas.