The largest Scottish freshwater peal is set to go for sale at auction almost 60 years after it was first discovered.

The famous pearl will be offered for sale online and in Edinburgh by auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull later this month on Wednesday, August 21.

The Abernethy Pearl was discovered in 1967 and named after its finder, William (Bill) Abernethy. He was famously known as Scotland’s last pearl fisherman with it then being banned in Scotland completely in 1998.

This pearl is set to go on sale this month and is expected to fetch as much as £60,000 when it goes under the hammer. It’s part of The Cairncross Collection auction that comes from renowned Scottish jewellers, Cairncross of Perth, which closed its doors in 2023.

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The pearl weighs 43.6 grains and the size and quality of it is deemed as ‘remarkable’. Bill Abernethy never disclosed where in Scotland he found the pearl and he died in 2021 at the age of 96.

It’s believed only one in every 5,000 mussels in Scottish rivers contain a pearl and they are generally smaller than their saltwater cousins.

During the 1970s, award-winning wildlife cameraman Doug Allan worked with Bill as a diver and explained how the pearl fisherman was able to know if mussel contained a pearl, leaving other undisturbed.

In an obituary after Bill’s death in 2021, he wrote: "Bill was a unique man and it was a privilege to have known him.

"I recall watched Bill fishing with his glass and stick and then he gave me a go. It didn’t take long to appreciate just how much hard graft it was.

"Bill, of course, made it look effortless. Which it wasn’t. He'd be there, bent over the glass, peering down at the river bed, picking out the small lips of the shells that were buried in the sand.

"I loved learning something of the old craft from Bill. The old words that only the real pearl fishers would use. We’d walk sometimes for miles over the fields until we reached the 'the spot'. He’d point out the specific part of the river that he knew would be best for pearls.”

The pearl is affectionately known as Little Willie and is believed to have been growing for more than 80 years before Bill found it in the 1960s, meaning it was created during the reign of Queen Victoria.

Bill was trained to fish for pearls by his father Robert and is believed to have wrapped this famous one in a dock leaf to keep it for scratching before he took it to Cairncross of Perth where it remained until they closed their doors last year.

Cairncross had gained a reputation for dealing in fine quality jewellery and had championed Scottish pearls as a natural wonder and became particularly famous for its pearly jewellery.

Over the years, local pearl fishers offered them first choice of their finds because they knew they would offer a fair price and use them well at a time when it was a dying-art.

At the time, Alistair Cairncross explained: "As the shapes and qualities of the pearls which are found vary very subtly, we design the pieces of jewellery in an asymmetrical form so that their differences are featured rather than hidden.

"Being unusual, we feel that they deserve a treatment which is different, so we have created a series of designs atmospheric of the background in which they were found."

When Cairncross closed its doors for the final time in July 2023 it was the end of an era and now a large collection is up for sale, including the pearl.

Ruth Davis, Head of Jewellery at Lyon & Turnbull, said: "The Cairncross Collection offers a final opportunity to obtain a piece of Perthshire history.

"As well as antique jewellery, including a beautiful pair diamond stud earrings, weighing over 4.00cts, the collection also includes more contemporary pieces, from high-end designers such as Picchiotti and enamelled jewels by Victor Mayer, as well as a selection of Scottish river pearls.

"The Abernethy Pearl is, of course, the star of the sale and we’re excited to see the interest the auction will undoubtedly generate."