On the subject of operculums, I have personally never done any more than
wash them and apply baby oil, let them dry, then glue them onto cotton. I
have several shells from the 1960s that look like the operculums were stuck
in there yesterday. One caveat: Thin operculums (like those of Thais
haemastoma) are best left to dry in some folded up newspaper sitting under
a phonebook -- if not, they end up looking like potato chips. As a
sidenote, I have purchased many shells from dealers (even the "big names")
in which the operculum was never treated. I always remove them and give
them a bit of baby oil which darkens them up and hides some occassional
flaws. Oh, one other tip: Some big moon snails have operculums that, when
dry, never seem to fit back in the aperture correctly. You can soak these
overnight so the edges get nice and soft, then press them back in the
aperture on top of some wadded up paper towel to dry. In about 24 hours,
you can remove them, discard the paper towel and replace it with cotton.
Works like a charm.

Best regards and we're going shelling tomorrow,
Jim

Jim Miller
Tallahassee, Florida
[log in to unmask]