"Conch shell's surprise: 40-carat emerald," by Laura Myers, Reuters, Sept. 10, 2002

KEY WEST, Fla. - A diver has discovered the treasure of a lifetime - a 40.2-carat emerald embedded in a conch shell taken from the site of a Spanish galleon wrecked in a Florida Keys hurricane 380 years ago. The part-time wreck diver, who teaches elementary school in northern Florida but does not want his name revealed, discovered the giant raw emerald while washing a bucket of shells in a classroom laboratory. ''Out popped a 40.2-carat emerald,'' Patrick Clyne, vice president at Key West-based wreck salvage company Mel Fisher Enterprises, said yesterday. ''It was one of those freak-of-nature things that somehow got swept up in the conch shell.''

The diver had gathered the shells near the Spanish galleon Santa Margarita, which sank Sept. 6, 1622, about 30 miles west of Key West, an island city at Florida's southern tip. ''This is an excellent indication that the Margarita had raw emeralds smuggled aboard the ship,'' Clyne said. ''There were no emeralds listed on its cargo manifest.'' The diver works with Amelia Research & Recovery Co., a salvage company hired by Mel Fisher Enterprises to search the remains of the Santa Margarita. ''This is a very, very important find. The emerald is worth a lot of money, but it's the first found at the Margarita site, which means hopefully, there are many, many more emeralds out there,'' said Doug Pope, Amelia Research's chief executive. The stone, measuring 1 by 11/2 inches, with a dark green center surrounded by lighter shades of green quartz, is believed to be from Colombia's Nuzo Mines.

There were no estimates for how much the emerald might be worth. But in 1985, a 77.7-carat emerald from the vessel Nuestra Senora de Atocha, a sister ship of the Santa Margarita, was appraised at $1.2 million. ''The diver will get a nice bonus for his find and his honesty,'' Clyne said. The vessels were part of a 28-ship fleet that left Havana Sept. 4, 1622, bound for Spain - laden with emeralds and gold from Colombia, silver from Mexico and Peru, and pearls from Venezuela. Two days later a hurricane overturned three of the vessels, scattering the ships' debris and their treasure.