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Famous Tay pearl fetches £93k at auction as Perth Museum confirms it’s NOT the mystery bidder

The Abernethy pearl had been expected to go for up to £60,000, however a Scottish buyer paid a record sum for it

Close up of Abernethy pearl
The Abernethy pearl made a record price at auction. Lyon & Turnbull/Stewart Attwood

The famous Abernethy pearl exceeded all expectations when it sold at auction.

The Scottish freshwater pearl was bought for £93,951 at the Lyon & Turnbull sale on Wednesday.

It had been expected to fetch between £40,000 and £60,000 when it went under the hammer.

The Edinburgh auctioneers said it had gone to a Scottish bidder for a world record price.

The pearl – also known as “Little Willie” – was named after its finder Bill Abernethy, who found it at a secret location on the River Tay almost 60 years ago.

Woman holding pearl in shell up to camera
The Abernethy Pearl is part of the Cairncross Collection. Image: Stewart Attwood Photography.

It was the star attraction in Lyon & Turnbull’s Cairncross Collection sale.

The auctioneers sold off 173 items from the renowned Perth jewellery business, which closed its doors in 2023.

Every single item was snapped up, in what is known as “a white glove auction”

There had been a suggestion that Culture Perth and Kinross should raise the funds to buy the pearl and put it on display in Perth Museum.

However, the organisation has revealed it’s NOT the mystery bidder.

A spokesman told The Courier: “I can confirm we did not bid on the Abernethy pearl.”

Abernethy pearl auction is latest chapter in Cairncross story

Bill Abernethy was the last pearl fisherman in Scotland before the practice was banned in 1998.

He died in 2021 aged 96.

Black and white photo of Bill Abernethy holding a mussel shell beside a river
Bill Abernethy. Image: ANL/Shutterstock

His Abernethy Pearl weighs 43.6 grains, and is said to be remarkable in both its size and quality.

In the early 1990s, it was at the centre of an ownership dispute between Bill and Cairncross, where it had been stored since the 1960s.

A court found in Bill’s favour. And the jeweller agreed to buy the pearl for an undisclosed sum.

The Cairncross business passed through several generations of the family during its 154 year history.

Alistair Cairncross and his brother Jimmy were the last generation of the family to own the shop.

Woman walking past shuttered Cairncross jewellers shop in Perth City centre
Cairncross was a Perth institution. Image: Kenny Smith/DC Thomson

It was taken over by Scottish businesswoman, Flora Rennie, in the late 1980s.

And it closed its doors for the final time in July 2023 when she was unable to find a buyer.

Cairncross presence still felt in Perth

The Alastair D Cairncross Collection of Scottish Freshwater Jewellery was donated to Culture Perth and Kinross last year.

It includes an array of jewellery, along with associated archives, design work, and personal items.

The star attraction is a pink pearl necklace comprising 87 graduated pearls, meticulously assembled by Alastair Cairncross over two decades.

It is on display in Perth Museum.

The £27 million new museum already has its own Cairncross collection.

And the ground floor includes a Cairncross gallery.

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