North Carolina woman finds huge pearl while slurping oysters she ordered at restaurant

A lucky woman discovered a pearl while dining on oysters with her daughter in small town North Carolina.

Freda Bryant made the happy discovery at Full Moon Oyster Bar in Morrisville, although unfortunately it was halfway through the bite.

Fortunately, her teeth were fine and she is now ready to earn a pretty penny, pending an appraisal of the pearl’s value.

“My daughter and I came from a doctor’s appointment and she said, ‘Mom, we need to get something to eat,’” Bryant said. WTVD of how it happened.

“So we ordered some oysters, and I’m eating… and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, my tooth’s out!’

It was then that the pair realized the obstruction was actually a pearl, she said, speaking as she touted the brilliant, round prize, about the size of a marble.

“The chance of this happening is one in 10,000,” she added, now planning to have the pearl properly examined by trained experts.

As she spoke outside the modest restaurant, she called in a direct message from the universe on Tuesday — one that told her to “keep moving forward positively” no matter what.

Scroll down for video:

Freda Bryant made the extremely fortunate discovery at the Full Moon Oyster Bar. She’s seen talking outside the small town diner after she slurped up the pearl with her seafood

“It’s impressive,” added an employee at the eatery, which sells the delectable, salty snacks for $25 a dozen.

“This is my pearl,” Bryant added, parading the calcium carbonate-coated particle that could be worth thousands of dollars in a jewelry box. “Isn’t that cool?”

The smiling worker agreed, seemingly caught up in Bryant’s still-fresh elation.

Judging by his expression, he too seemed surprised at what had just happened, since only 1 in 10,000 wild oysters yields a pearl like the one Bryant accidentally slurped.

The organic creations are made when a grain of sand or other irritant enters an oyster shell, causing the oyster to coat itself with thin layers of mineral secretions that form a pearl over several years.

Only a small percentage ever achieve the size, shape and color desirable to most jewelers – but at first glance, Bryant’s trinket seems to be up to snuff.

Roughly the size of nickel, the price of the piece, based on its size, shapes and shine, is likely at least $100, according to analysts at Pearl-lang.com.

Even if the mother and daughter had ordered two dozen, there would be a big profit in store.

“It’s impressive,” said a surprised employee of the discovery, smiling next to a delighted Bryant on Tuesday

Bryant was on her way home from a doctor’s appointment when her daughter suggested, “Mom, we should get something to eat,” she said.

The modest eatery sells the salty snacks for $25 a dozen, meaning Bryant can make a pretty penny, pending an appraisal

“This is my pearl,” said Bryant, the calcium carbonate-coated particle that could be worth thousands in a jewelry box. “Isn’t that cool?” Experts say the pearl could be worth up to $2,000

Some might say that this is just a ‘shell’ of a discovery, as pearls appearing on a customer’s plate are extremely rare.

That said, the phenomenon isn’t unheard of: A 66-year-old New Yorker came across one around this time in 2018 while enjoying oysters at Manhattan’s iconic Grand Central Oyster Bar.

“For a split second there was fear,” Rick Antosh told the BBC New York Post at the time. ‘Is it a tooth; is it a filling?’

“And I took it out and saw that it couldn’t be anything else [but a pearl]. It was pearly white and round.”

He then had the appraisal done by Eddie Livi, owner of DSL Pearl on West 47th Street in Manhattan. It turned out to be worth $400.