Sally Thomson's decision to tuck into a boiled egg left her more than a little shell-shocked – for embedded inside it was a sparkly surprise.

After biting into the hard-boiled snack, the 39-year-old waitress, from Armathwaite, near Carlisle, felt distinctly brittle in her mouth, and she quite naturally assumed that it was a small fragment of eggshell.

So she spat it out – and was astonished to find the egg had contained what looked like a small diamond.

A jeweller in Carlisle later confirmed that the mystery gem was actually a cubic zirconia, a diamond-like synthetic gem.

That did nothing to diminish Sally's astonishment.


Sally Thomson “I was flabbergasted that something sparkly had come out of a hard-boiled egg,” said Sally, who is due to marry her fiance in seven weeks.

The egg involved was part of a dozen free-range eggs that Sally had bought from the St Nicholas Gate Asda store in Carlisle. She recalled walking into her living room with the egg and taking a bite from it as she sat down.

“Then, in my mouth, I felt what I presumed was a bit of egg-shell and spat it out on to my plate – and realised it was sparkly.

“I thought it was strange. I wasn't wearing any jewellery at the time.

"It took a little while to take what had actually happened because it was so strange; but I realised that it had to have come out of the boiled egg.

"At the time, I thought it was hilarious – and surreal.”

When Sally posted an account of what happened in a wedding Facebook page, she had a huge response. The story was read around the world – including in Australia, and the USA.

Some refuse to believe what happened was possible.

But Collette Francis, a former chicken farm worker who saw Sally's account, suggested that the chicken involved may have eaten the gem, which could then have been inserted naturally into the egg before its shell finally hardened.

“I doesn't hurt the bird and could be one in 10 million eggs," said Miss Francis.

“I've only seen two or three in lifetime, so it's something that wants keeping. It's amazing what you find in eggs!”

Satisfied that nobody is ever likely to come forward to claim the gem, Sally hopes to incorporate it into her wedding head-piece.

In the meantime, Sally, who is – quite naturally busy preparing for her hen party – has lost her appetite for boiled eggs.

“I definitely won't be eating another one in a hurry,” she added.