TRADE ALERT re Non-Beaded Saltwater ('new keshi') Pearls

[Pearl Dreams]

Caitlin has made an excellent post.

I grew up loving the look and idea of pearls. I very much desired to one day own a strand of cultured pearls. Then in the 1970s I read an article on pearls in National Geographic which discussed the problems associated with the thinner nacre Akoya pearls that were increasingly being sold and the resulting decrease in durability that could be expected. This dismayed me, and I decided an Akoya strand was not a good value for me. I bought Majorica imitation pearls instead for my wedding.

With more knowledge now under my belt, I realize there is a wide range of quality available and that pearls with good nacre thickness can be purchased-- and that Tahitians/ SSP have greater nacre thickness than Akoyas. But somehow, given the fact that there is a huge honking bead in there, I still have a hard time thinking of them as "real" pearls. Even though the world now accepts them as real pearls, for me they are less real than the ones that are essentially nacre all the way through.

I do own natural color [baroque] Akoyas, so I'm not saying I would never buy bead nucleated pearls-- but I have a strong bias toward all-nacre pearls. And toward the more affordable pearls, since my discretionary funds are limited, and I enjoy buying other luxury items besides pearls!

 

[Caitlin]

You mean, this sort of thing?

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Keshi-Nucle...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a06e610f6

I am so thoroughly confused. Good one Ana!

 

[SteveM]

You mean, this sort of thing?

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Keshi-Nucle...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a06e610f6

Truth in advertising?in its way more intriguing than natural.

 

[Bodecia]

I understand the appreciation for "purity".. but in my opinion a large bead nucleated pearl has a longer "shelf life" than the same size keshi (or natural pearl). As large size keshi pearls often have "gas pockets", and natural pearls (will be expensive and could come with the same issue). This is something I do not understand. Why do people not like the "bead"?..

Hi Sarah and All,

This is a Keshi Pearl I bought along with many others. Various sizes and most not round like this one. I had it mounted in this ring because the small Akoya pearl that was in the ring had virtually no nacre left on it when it arrived.

How could anyone say that this 4mm South Sea Gold Keshi Pearl is not better than a pearl that obviously had a very thin layer of nacre on it. It is a beautiful little pearl, looks like a South Sea Seed Pearl but as it came with a lot of keshi so I presume it is a keshi.

I find keshi pearls with round or oblong, any shape very beautiful. More so than any Akoya pearls. I am betting this pearl will last for many, many years, much longer than the original 4mm Akoya that was in the ring originally.

I have nothing against Akoya or other bead nucleated pearls. Have many myself but if given the chance I would love to own a few of these, non-beaded keshi myself. I do have a few totally vintage or antique Naturals but still would love to have some of these beauties.

I've taken pains here to dampen enthusiasm for keshis per se, with links to X-Rays by SSEF and others. Once I insisted on a pair of keshi cufflinks, fortunately the jeweler was a friend and said he'd never do it.

Smeltzer, would love to have the link to the X-Rays by SSEF and others that you mention. My husband has drilled many keshi pearls and we have never had any problems with them apart from the occasional drill bit breaking off, often in the biggest and the best keshi.

Dawn
eBay ID dawncee333

 

[jshepherd]

You mean, this sort of thing?

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Keshi-Nucle...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a06e610f6

Should someone here buy one of those keshi-nukes and cut it in half?

 

[SteveM]

would love to have the link to the X-Rays by SSEF and others that you mention

LINK to my post from a prior thread discussing keshi pearls and their gross (if not fraudulent) misrepresentation by an otherwise-respectable auction house. It contains a link to the SSEF article.

Should someone here buy one of those keshi-nukes and cut it in half?

Or simply X-Ray/Micro CT, as even though the bead is nacre, there may still be a telltale discontinuity or gap in the concentric growth rings where 'bead' gives way to the rest of the 'pearl.' I'm not convinced this is exactly what SSEF's letter was about.

 

[Bodecia]

Thanks for the links smetzler. Sorry I mis-spelt your name before.

Haven't had a change to read all yet but it looks interesting. Tried to find it earlier myself and came up with a thread about low grade akoya pearls being used as beads in nucleating Kasumi pearls. Find that very interesting too. Have to go back and read all of those 5 year old threads too.

One reason is that I wonder why Kasumi pearls cannot be grown from tissue as other FW pearls. I realise it would longer to grow them to a decent size and up their price but surely it is possible. Maybe Sarah could jump in here.

Dawn
eBay ID dawncee333

 

[Valeria101]

Should someone here buy one of those keshi-nukes and cut it in half?

Yes, Sir! By all means...

 

[Valeria101]

Or simply X-Ray/Micro CT, as even though the bead is nacre, there may still be a telltale discontinuity or gap in the concentric growth rings where 'bead' gives way to the rest of the 'pearl.' I'm not convinced this is exactly what SSEF's letter was about.

Reading GIA's report on using that method, it doesn't sound like it might be ripe for a blind test, by the authors candid admission. Particularly not on this - they reported such discontinuities in pearls before, if not in SS pearls...

It may be that the SSEF hasn't touched such pearls either, although they may know of them [a note they put out in 2007 is where I heard of purpose-grown large SS keshi]. However, I wonder what the task of keeping up with pearl growers' news means these days: with pearling a cash crop all over the the Southern Hemisphere, that would call for some rather exotic field-trips, or a really good bait for self-reporting which remains to be invented since Babylon... Experimentation in such conditions must cost as much as a pair of shoe laces in Switzerland, methinks.

Just a thought...

 

[CortezPearls]

Should someone here buy one of those keshi-nukes and cut it in half?

I will!!! Just send me the money!!!

 

[SteveM]

It may be that the SSEF hasn't touched such pearls either, although they may know of them?

Never one to let a source off the hook (no idea where this journalistic streak came from), Dr. Krzemnicki has sent the following message today:

The problem is that there are many terms around there which lack a consistent clear definition.

It is however possible, to use a beadless cultured pearl as a bead for growing a larger cultured pearl in a second growth. We have already seen this at the SSEF.

From this I take it that these keshi-beaded pearls are not among those referenced in the Trade Alert. But I have requested additional confirmation.

 

[CortezPearls]

To continue with this interesting thread... as a pearl farmer I can say that it would take us very long to grow large all-nacre pearls. It would not be feasible economically, hence the need to continue nucleating oysters.

From my viewpoint this issue has a bit to do with the thread on CIBJO's Pearl Book. I mean, why can't pearl farmers just use different "things" -instead of nacreous beads- if they feel like it? Just as long as the farmer offers a FULL DISCLOSURE and the rest of the supply chain does the same (once more, a good point for Fair Trade Gems: supply chain transparency) so we don't have any people -consumers- being RIPPED OFF.

Now, on the other hand, I find it most offensive to have a Natural Pearl being considered truly a Natural Pearl if you find it in an oyster that has been fished from a pearl-bed. This is like saying: Yes! continue sacking the oceans and plundering at the expense of nature. Natural Pearl Farming has a tradition in Mexico -established in 1893- when Gast?n Viv?s started the world's first true pearl oyster farm in the Sea of Cortez. He raised between 8-10 million black-lips at his site, and all his pearls were 100% natural but came from farm-raised animals (for more info use this link and this one). Nobody ever questioned Dr. Viv?s' legitimate pearls. Nowadays -and keeping with tradition- we find natural pearls inside a few of our farm raised animals (view this link) and these are 100% Natural Pearls... the only thing we have done to these animals is to keep them clean and happy in their culture baskets. These are Ethical Natural Pearls.

As a farmer I believe I have the right to experiment to produce "new products" but it is not ethical to say we produce natural pearls if they are not, to say the pearls are untreated if they are treated, to say they have natural beauty if it the oyster was injected with something to induce a color, etc. Always and forever: FULL DISCLOSURE.

 

[Mikeyy]

This "little" scam has been going on for quite a long time! Just that when the stakes get higher.. people go to further lengths!

In the last year I have heard on several occasions from on line customers... and here on the forum as well : That some people prefer to have a non nucleated, tissue nucleated cultured pearl to a cultured pearl with a bead nucleus. Especially in a pearl of a larger size this puzzles me. I understand the appreciation for "purity".. but in my opinion a large bead nucleated pearl has a longer "shelf life" than the same size keshi (or natural pearl). As large size keshi pearls often have "gas pockets", and natural pearls (will be expensive and could come with the same issue). This is something I do not understand. Why do people not like the "bead"?.. it's shell (here's to you Mikeyy!), it gives the pearl stability and it is much more cost effective in achieving size! (and also while I am on this tangent)... Where did this notion come from?
Caitlin... Please help me here!

Thank you, Thank you. I would point out that none of us would likely be here if not for the lowly nuclei. So a little respect please. LOL

I should say that in the interest of full disclosure that as a diver I always set aside misshaped mussels in a bucket while working. At the end of the day I would get my bucket of mussels out and cut them open to see if I had found a natural pearl. Sometimes I did. It was exciting to get lucky now and then I will admit.

 

[Caitlin]

We are lucky to have a nucleus guy here, esp with such a good sense of humor. The small percent of people who only buy solid nacre isn't ever going to affect the shell business. Also, since I am on the wrong side of this conversation, it is excellent to have you and Sarah bringing some balance to any such conversation.

Now tell us those Mississippi River mussels are plentiful. The ones used commercially occur in abundance, nothing endangered here. Having said that, it was not commercial outfits that endangered many of the hundreds of mussels species up in the cricks, creeks, runs, and small streams, it was 19th century Americans pearl hunting on Sunday picnics in the 1880's.

According to Kunz, those folks hardly left a mussel uncracked so the picnic pearl hunting era was soon over and many of those little streams have not recovered. Same story as the River Tay in Scotland.

North America had/has more kinds of wild pearl mussels than everywhere else in the world put together. There are plenty to harvest and plenty to "save". Everybody is happy.

 

[Mikeyy]

We are lucky to have a nucleus guy here, esp with such a good sense of humor. The small percent of people who only buy solid nacre isn't ever going to affect the shell business. Also, since I am on the wrong side of this conversation, it is excellent to have you and Sarah bringing some balance to any such conversation.

Now tell us those Mississippi River mussels are plentiful. The ones used commercially occur in abundance, nothing endangered here. Having said that, it was not commercial outfits that endangered many of the hundreds of mussels species up in the cricks, creeks, runs, and small streams, it was 19th century Americans pearl hunting on Sunday picnics in the 1880's.

According to Kunz, those folks hardly left a mussel uncracked so the picnic pearl hunting era was soon over and many of those little streams have not recovered. Same story as the River Tay in Scotland.

North America had/has more kinds of wild pearl mussels than everywhere else in the world put together. There are plenty to harvest and plenty to "save". Everybody is happy.

Yes there are plenty of mussels. I don't remember seeing Kunz diving. Must have been in a different river. But there were plenty of washboard and three ridge mussels when I stopped and still is. And those despite the stories you read are the most popular shell for nuclei. In fact most other species were too small to harvest or on the endangered species list. Just to give you an example of the bad information you read. I have been a diver all my life and have never seen a pig toe mussel. But when you read the information put out you read that this is one of the most popular shells harvested. Where do they get this stuff? You know its like birds. There are trillions of sparrows and not so many eagles. But you wouldn't say birds are endangered would you? It's the same with mussels. Because you can point to old history of people gathering too many shells it doesn't equate to all shells being over harvested. But it's a common misperception. Nobody would want to risk or take the time to gather mussels that would get them in trouble or that were not usable for nuclei. Most people who found themselves in trouble were in that trouble for poaching in areas they should not have been. But still it was to gather Washboard and Three Ridge mussels.
I and my team did much of the diving for the government studies. And there are harvest reports to refer to as well. There has been almost no harvest in the upper Mississippi river systems for almost 20 years now. So most of the information is very dated as well. But my divers were doing test harvests in the Illinois River 4 years ago. Despite the fact that there is no commercial harvest. Stick with me Caitlin my friend and I will make sure you always have the real skinny. Not all the best info is between the covers of a book. Sometimes you need to go to the source.

 

[SteveM]

Kunz: REAL funny.

Agree with Douglas, this is all about disclosure and not at all about beaded vs. non-beaded.

 

[Caitlin]

Mikeyy
Kunz published his life's work in 1908. It is entirely about natural pearls. I doubt you would have seen him diving.

I couldn't tell if you were agreeing with me or not. I was agreeing with you. Kunz kept detailed records of the time that everyone was out picking wild American pearls.

The first region in the in the United States to market American pearls was 1857 Ohio. David Howell discovered a pearl of 50 grains in his cooked mussels. The news spread. Within days, Jacob Quackenbush found a 93 grain pearl, uncooked. Tiffany bought it for $1,500 (Kunz was Tiffany's main buyer at the time and the world's most respected Pearl Scholar, since Tavernier.) It was found within 17 miles of Tiffany's B&M store. The Empress Eugenie ended up with it. (Kunz 1908 pp259-

Understandably, this set off a "pearl rush"- actually a series of small "pearl rushes" and men of all trades went to Notch Brook. "In 1857 NYC received about $15,000 worth of pearls from around Notch Brook"... The active search continued and 1858 saw only a few thousand dollars sold. In a few years, this fell to nothing. The search continued in Pennsyvania, Texas, Colorado, where 20,000 pearls were found before depletion. New Jersey, then Arkansas, which gave up the most pearls around 1895 and was the locus of the deepest pearl fishing yet. Arkansas yielded $500k of pearls. In 1891, the depths of the MI river was plumbed for shells for buttons. There are pages of details of when and where the shallow streams were fished out- sometimes 100%. I don't believe these roustabout pearl hunters knew one shell from another. They took all they saw. They weren't pros, but they sold to pros.

Kunz laments at the end of the section that some areas were so decimated, that many species would not come back at all. Indeed, the government report on mussels- likely the one you worked on- said that dozens of species never came back. Now we know where the abundance is great- in the deeper waters and only a few species make up most of the commercial trade, so the other little guys are hardly missed. Now we use the 3ridge and the washboards. They continue to thrive.

I have been a diver all my life and have never seen a pig toe mussel.

Mikeyy, the pig toe mussel is endangered. No wonder you never saw it. LINK Post number 10. in the mussel resource pages. Now you have to tell me where you heard that about pigtoes?

Kunz indicates the 3 ridge is the second best pearl mussel. The most popular has the N-word in it, n-toe. That one obviously has a new name; it may be elktoe. This book is 102 years old, but it has the best history of freshwater pearl mussels in the US. Between that and mussel reports, one can get a pretty idea of what went on then, and what has come back, never declined and what is very rare.

 

[Caitlin]

Kunz: REAL funny.

Agree with Douglas, this is all about disclosure and not at all about beaded vs. non-beaded.

So true. But when you have a pro diver, it seems like a good opportunity to discuss mussel shells, which we haven't done for couple of years. The commercial ones are abundant. However many others are endangered. Mikeyy even says many are protected. So we are actually reinforcing each other. Strack has about 50 pages on the subject and brings it up to date from Kunz. The first few pages of the American mussel section is derived from Kunz- complete with pictures. Many of the protective measures he recommended in 1908 have been taken in recent years.

 

[Mikeyy]

Mikeyy
Kunz published his life's work in 1908. It is entirely about natural pearls. I doubt you would have seen him diving.

I couldn't tell if you were agreeing with me or not. I was agreeing with you. Kunz kept detailed records of the time that everyone was out picking wild American pearls.

The first region in the in the United States to market American pearls was 1857 Ohio. David Howell discovered a pearl of 50 grains in his cooked mussels. The news spread. Within days, Jacob Quackenbush found a 93 grain pearl, uncooked. Tiffany bought it for $1,500 (Kunz was Tiffany's main buyer at the time and the world's most respected Pearl Scholar, since Tavernier.) It was found within 17 miles of Tiffany's B&M store. The Empress Eugenie ended up with it. (Kunz 1908 pp259-

Understandably, this set off a "pearl rush"- actually a series of small "pearl rushes" and men of all trades went to Notch Brook. "In 1857 NYC received about $15,000 worth of pearls from around Notch Brook"... The active search continued and 1858 saw only a few thousand dollars sold. In a few years, this fell to nothing. The search continued in Pennsyvania, Texas, Colorado, where 20,000 pearls were found before depletion. New Jersey, then Arkansas, which gave up the most pearls around 1895 and was the locus of the deepest pearl fishing yet. Arkansas yielded $500k of pearls. In 1891, the depths of the MI river was plumbed for shells for buttons. There are pages of details of when and where the shallow streams were fished out- sometimes 100%. I don't believe these roustabout pearl hunters knew one shell from another. They took all they saw. They weren't pros, but they sold to pros.

Kunz laments at the end of the section that some areas were so decimated, that many species would not come back at all. Indeed, the government report on mussels- likely the one you worked on- said that dozens of species never came back. Now we know where the abundance is great- in the deeper waters and only a few species make up most of the commercial trade, so the other little guys are hardly missed. Now we use the 3ridge and the washboards. They continue to thrive.

Mikeyy, the pig toe mussel is endangered. No wonder you never saw it. LINK Post number 10. in the mussel resource pages. Now you have to tell me where you heard that about pig toes?

Kunz indicates the 3 ridge is the second best pearl mussel. The most popular has the N-word in it, n-toe. That one obviously has a new name; it may be elk toe. This book is 102 years old, but it has the best history of freshwater pearl mussels in the US. Between that and mussel reports, one can get a pretty idea of what went on then, and what has come back, never declined and what is very rare.

Well we are on the same page then. The N word mussel is referred to as the ebony amongst the divers I know. It's a small thick shell with very little waste compared to the Washboard and it generally makes a higher percentage of first grade nuclei. But it doesn't make the larger sizes used in SS pearls.
Harvesting of the Pig toe mussel for nuclei is often sighted as in the book PEARLS by Dr. Shohei Shirai. He also mentions the N word mussel but with no mention of Three Ridge or Washboard mussels. Even though those are the shells in his pictures. It can get confusing is my point. And there is plenty of bad information surrounding the trade. And the names of shells are different by region as well. Elk toe as you mention is one I'm not familiar with. But elk horn is. As well as Pistol grips. We could be talking about the same shell. Take a Mahi Mahi fish for example. In Mexico it's a Dorado. Some others call it a Dolphin fish or a Maverikos. It's still the same fish. Interesting though isn't it?

 

[Caitlin]

Thanks!!! I love to get the specifics out there every now and then, esp about mussels.