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Catchy Keshi

Pearls are my go-to accessory nowadays. They are so easy to dress up or dress down with - as long as you have the right design.


One pearl option that excites me is the keshi pearl. Its organic shape and origin, not to mention incredible lustre, really make keshi pearls a great jewellery option. Featured here - keshi pearls on gold with cognac diamonds from the Joanne L Oyster Bar.


Keshi pearls are non-beaded pearls formed by accident as a by-product of pearl cultivation. They are formed when the oyster rejects and spits out the implanted nucleus before the culturing process is complete. These pearl sacs eventually produce pearls without a nucleus. Because the oyster has expelled the implanted nucleus of the pearl, the resulting keshi pearl is 100% nacre. This gives it an especially lustrous and shimmering surface quality. In fact, most keshi pearls have a luster which is even better the highest quality cultured pearls. Keshi pearls, especially Tahitian and South Sea keshis, were once quite the bargain. However, they are much rarer now. This is because Tahitian and South Sea pearl farms often x-ray their oysters to see if the nucleus has been expelled. If found, they are then re-nucleated before a keshi has time to form, hence making keshi pearls much rarer than they once used to be. The word keshi means "poppy seed" in Japanese, and these pearls are often also referred to as "poppy seed pearls."


Source - the Pearl Guide








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