Woman Was Dining at Italian Restaurant When She Bit Into Something Hard — It Turned Out to Be Something Very Rare

ISSAQUAH, Wash. (AP) -- A woman bit down on a rare pearl while eating a meal of clams and other seafood at an Italian restaurant in Washington state.

KOMO-TV reports Lindsay Hasz and her husband Chris were eating at Montalcino Ristorante Italiano in Issaquah recently when she bit into something hard in her entree.

Image source: KOMO-TV

Hasz says she wasn't sure what it was but put it in her pocket and went home to do research.

She took it to a gemologist, who determined it was a Quahog purple pearl worth about $600.

Ted Irwin of Northwest Geological Laboratory says the find is rare, with only one in a couple million being of gem quality.

Montalcino owner Cindy Nardone says she's happy for Hasz.

Hasz says she may have the pearl made into a necklace.

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