|
|
Niihau shell leis
Only the shells collected from the private island of Ni'ihau can used in the prized Ni'ihau shell leis. There are several variations of colors in both the momi (the larger shells) and the kahelelanis (the smaller shells). some colors are more common then others but all of the shells are very hard to come by and only come to shore during the winter months. Some of the varitaions only come to shore about one week out of every year, such as the fossilized blue uliuli that needs to be broken out of coral by the larger winter storms. I specialize in the stringing and restoration of Ni'ihau shell leis. If you have a lei that needs restringing contact Kai at e-mail: kaikane@usa.com or call 1-808-987-0072. I have been stringing Ni'ihau shell leis for over 20 years, and have restored leis up to 20,000 shells (long multi strand wedding lei) for museums and private owners alike. |
 |
Kipona style shell lei |
|
18" |
|
This Ni'ihau shell lei has lenalena momi's (light golden) with kahelelanis (the smaller colorful shells) |
|
Price: $450.00 |
 |
akalaikaika kipona style lei |
|
20" |
|
20" momi ans kahelelani shell lei with the rarest hot pink of the kahelelanis (akalaikaika-hot pink) |
Price: $550.00 Sold 7/1/08 |
 |
Pikake style kahakaha (rarest shells) |
|
18" |
|
The light blue momis are the uliuli, a fossalized form of the shells that only come to shore one week out of the year. the golden striped kahakaha is the rarest of all the shells. On average you only find four usable kahakaha shells a year, so there are 9 1/2 years of the shells in this lei. |
|
Value: over $1,000 Price: $595.00 |
 |
Rare Kipona shell lei |
|
24" |
|
This lei has all the rarest of the niihau shells. The lighter momi is the uliuli (fossalized blue momi that only comes in one week out of the year) The kahakaha (The golden striped momi is the rarest of the niihau shells, only about four shells a year on average are picked by any one person.) the smaller kahelelani shells take many more to fill the same distance on the lei, and the akala ikaika (hot pink) is the rarest of the kahelelani forms, which you see built in to the lei. |
Price: $1,200.00 Sold 6/6/08 |
 |
momi lenalena pikake shell lei |
|
18" |
|
Momi pikake style lenalena (light golden) shell lei. |
|
Price: $250.00 |
 |
Akala poepoe |
|
18" |
|
A beautiful poepoe (rope style) made from the akala kahelelanis. This style of lei takes thousands of shells to finnish and can take a long time to collect, prepare and string the shells. |
|
Value: 5,000 Price: $2,200 Sold 7/7/08 |
 |
Momi onikniki kipona lei |
|
32" |
|
Beautiful Momi Onikiniki (striped momi) pikake style with mixed kahelelanis in the kipona style. |
Price: $2,000.00 Sold 6/23/08 |
 |
Three strand pikake lei |
|
25" |
|
Three strand momi pikake style shell lei. One strand is onikiniki (striped) uliuli (fossilized blue momi) and lenalena (light golden) |
|
Price: $3,000.00 |
|
|
|
