Do these faceted Tahitian pearls look “problematic”?

[nnguye20]

Hi everybody, I was an active member of this group but I have been inactive for a long time and haven’t bought any new pearl item for years. I’m planning to gradually regrow my love and knowledge for this fascinating gem.
Recently I bought a strand of faceted Tahitian pearls from a well-known vendor on Etsy. When I received the item, I think some of the pearls are showing the nucleus? Here are the pictures of the strand on me, in normal light, in a white bowl of water, and the suspected pearls with backlit. Most of them look ok and don’t look translucent under backlit. What do you think? Are the ‘problematic’ ones actually normal or are they obviously thin in nacre? Should I remove them and restring the strand?

 

[jshepherd]

Good to see you again!

Yes, they look problematic. The nacre was too thin to facet several of them and you're seeing the bead. It almost looks like you could rub the remaining nacre off by hand, unfortunately. If you remove all the most problematic pearls, the strand will be too short to wear. Maybe they have some loose pearls that could replace the ones showing the nucleus ... ?

 

[nnguye20]

Hi Jeremy,
Thank you so much for the input. I guess I will try returning the strand as it was sent from China to Vietnam. Worse case possible, I can take out the ‘fine’ ones and make them into new items.

Yes, they look problematic. The nacre was too thin to facet several of them and you're seeing the bead. It almost looks like you could rub the remaining nacre off by hand, unfortunately. If you remove all the most problematic pearls, the strand will be too short to wear. Maybe they have some loose pearls that could replace the ones showing the nucleus ... ?

 

[A Breaker]

I hope you get a solution. While I love new ideas with things, this faceting seems like it is the opposite of what a pearl wants to be. If you need to keep them, do show what you used them for...love that kind of creativity!

 

[kojimapearl]

I concur on the above replies.. and also I kind of like the way they cut sooooo close to the bead.. it's almost like having a nacreous fishnet stocking over the nucleus.

 

[pearlescence]

Faceting and inlaying are neat ways to boost the value of pearls with flaws