Tarantula Brooch

TARANTULA BROOCH

The Tarantula Brooch is decorated in gold, diamonds, rubies, sapphires and an orange red horse conch shell.

The Tarantula Brooch, designed by Stefan Hemmerle of Munich, Germany, is a shoulder brooch designed to appear as if a tarantula is crawling on the wearer's shirt. A 27 millimeter long pearl is the 'head' of the tarantula with gold 'legs' ornamented with diamonds. Additional stones of rubies and sapphires as well as an orange red horse conch shell make up the remainder of the brooch.

A horse conch is a snail originating from the Southeastern United States and Northeastern Mexico. Horse conch are extremely common in Florida and are considered Florida's state shell.

The Tarantula Brooch was last publicly displayed in the American Museum of Natural History's 'Pearls: A Natural History' traveling exhibit.