A closeup of strands that are combined to make shell leis. You cannot even begin to imagine how much time and effort went into making these necklace strands. Since they are so valuable, and becoming more famous there has been a rash of imitations being sold on the internet and such. To help combat this, the Hawaiian state government has passed a law (HB 2569) requiring Ni'ihau shells to be documented as the real thing to be called Kahelelani (Ni'ihau) shells.