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One more return to keshis. Following the SOC live stream in which I missed a keshi bracelet lot another lot was offered that I stupidly passed on as I had bracelet on the brain. The pearls were beautifully formed. Would it make commercial sense for SOC to increasingly specialize in keshi and...

That's helpful, as it looks like the pearl was quite well formed before it became attached to the shell. The nacre layers after attachment are not attractive. The same happens in clam pearls, when something originally beautiful can become grotesque. Again, the expertise required to remove nacre...

Ken Scarratt pointed me to it at AGTA in 2011, it was already very rare.

I'll take this one. You'll only find out when you start digging, cutting the blister out of the shell first. You might try polishing, as the extinct art of pearl pealing requires experience and skill and the patience of a yogi (as described in Louis Kornitzer, 'The Pearl Trader', from the...

What a nice challenge! Wonderful pearl to work with! As I am going through this exact dillemma (gold pearls with metal and stone (currently at an impasse), I can commiserate as follows: Jeweler wants gold to match the pearls. I want silver (platinum, etc) as a contrast and to reserve the gold...

Great background! But this would not apply to the much larger P. Maxima and P. Margaritifera. Edit: Just to add that this would be another point in favor P. Sterna, that keshi from this species remain truly rare.

It seems we've gone down a rabbit hole, for sure. As Jeremy pointed out, the term 'Keshi' has been convoluted in myriad ways. Primarly what seems apparent is that producers have learned to produce saltwater 'keshi' on demand. And given their superior gem quality, to what extent are white marbles...

According to my reading of gem lab 'exposés' at the time, clandestine efforts were made to create pearls that would pass natural certification, perhaps adapting techniques perfected in Chinese FW mussels, and in the process quality greatly improved. As a result, keshi supply, consistency and...

Now I guess it must be asked if 5.106 serves as an umbrella over 5.187 and 5.196, and if so, why the latter definitions would be required.

OK so back to regulations and terminology: Can a tissue-nucleated oyster pearl be called a keshi without qualification? I guess that would be in CIBJO's current definition but I don't have the latest document to reference. When I bought the gold pearl above the natural certification fraud was...

My wife has a Cook Islands keshi bracelet made from pearls that formed in third-graft pearl sacs from a line lost in a hurricane and discovered eight years later. Those huge sacs completely filled with nacre. Tissue nucleation (never beaded) became an issue at the time (circa 15+ years ago) as...

Thanks, lots to read here! Given the persistennt popularity of blue Akoya what do you make of the April 2024 report on analysis of older blues?

The pearl is 100% nacre, non-beaded, as with Freshwater. When these things started appearing 15 years ago or so I guess no one knew what else to call them. But I've been away from pearls for a number of years. The pearl was offered and sold as a keshi with the 'nucleated' qualifier. Can we get...

We were allowed to keep just one of the pearls. Received today, set as a simple enhancer. Had to wait for the sun to go down, iPhone 15 is notorious for lens flare!

Thanks. Never to assume, we ran across this tissue-nucleated Keshi from Indonesia in 2010 (shown on Hisano's desk at Ruckus that year, ready for enhancer). 17.5mm X 14mm X 11mm, 18 carats. Side forward is with dimples, back side is smooth and equally lustrous. Might want to make it two-sided...

That Labradorite certainly is an attention grabber. Looks like the light is transmitted from behind or within, not refracted. Beautiful setting.

Always welcome up our way. High 70 and partly sunny in Seattle today, with a fresh breeze. Don't have A/C.

Always beautiful. Is that large center drop also a keshi?

Perhaps a link to Strack's subscription newsletter would be appropriate here.

Sharing a little progress with the Poe Pipi lot from Alex Collins, here with a snapshot from the jeweler's desk. While my idea is to mass the pearls for cumulative effect, the 8.7mm drop had to remain apart as it would make a striking pendant on its own (and is of comparative value to the...