Paua shell comes from one of 3 paua species living in New Zeland. Paua have iridescent blue, green and purple shells that are popular in use for making of jewelry and souvenirs. Paua shell is also know as sea opal, in reference to its beautiful blue-green hues. In addition to plain Paua shell, much of our paua shell jewelry is dyed in either purple, blue or green to enhance the shell's radiance and make the coloration better fitting to a wider selection of jewelry.