Beyond the “round pearl,” nature nurtures a variety of abstract and artistic shapes. Of those, the “Keshi Cultured Pearls” (Keshi); used by many jewelry designers to create jewelry art, embodies elegance and is undoubtedly the alternative for those who want all nacre (non-nucleated) pearls. The free-formed flair of Keshi appeals to the astute confident collector with an artistic predilection for the “natural.” Larger sizes are rare pearls which can attain and exceed the value of some fine cultured pearls. In fact, many pearl farmers keep these Keshis for themselves as nature's true gifts.

At The Center Of It All...

Keshi is perhaps one of the most misunderstood pearl on the market today. Truly ‘real’ Keshis are increasingly rare non-nucleated accidental by-products of the freshwater and saltwater pearl culturing process, and are composed entirely of pearl nacre. These pearls form in cultivated mollusks and mussels, which would under normal circumstances (the mollusk being found outside the protected lagoons for example), be called a natural pearl.

Recently, however, the market has seen an influx of free forms tissue-nucleated cultured Freshwater pearls, produced intentionally, by seeding immature mussels with small sections of mantle tissue, so that, like Keshis, they have no discernible nucleus. And, large petals and reborns, both of which are thin and concave in appearance, are being incorrectly labeled as Keshis. To complicate the matter further, nucleated half-pearls of up to 25mm -- termed Keshis, are now being produced in the South Sea. A pearl retrieved from an oyster or mussel that was seeded intentionally to grow a Keshi is not considered a ‘real’ Keshi.

Those issues have led to an ongoing international debate on whether Keshis should be classified as natural or cultured pearls. This issue is still pending because although ‘real’ Keshis form spontaneously and without the guidance of nuclei, they only form in cultivated oysters and mussels.

‘Real’ Keshi vs. Natural Pearls

Naturals are pearls, formed by wild oysters or mussels, which have no nuclei (in the case of spontaneously formed pearls), or nuclei created by infinitesimal foreign intruders (such as miniscule parasites entering the oysters’ mantle tissue). All this must take place in oysters or mussels existing in the wild.

Keshis are non-nucleated pearls, formed accidentally by cultivated oysters or mussels, which have nuclei of 1) organic matter secreted by the oysters or mussels themselves, or 2) miniscule loose membranous tissue cells which end up inside the host during the pearl nucleation process, or 3) remains of mantle tissue implant… occur when a) the polished shells or beads separate from the tissue implant which often result in two pearls, and when b) the mollusks reject the beads, however, continues to secrete nacre to the implant area, or when c) following harvest, the mollusks are returned to the farm without being re-nucleated resulting in the original pearl sac being filled with nacre.

Food for thought: While often impossible to tell apart, a natural is a coincident in the wild and a 'real' Keshi is a farm accident caused by human’s interaction with the oysters and mussels.

Know your Keshi Pearls

Real Keshis are rare as a result of pearl farmers x-raying their oysters and re-nucleating when it is found that the mollusks have expelled the nucleus. Further more, in the rare chance that a Keshi develop, the recent change in the manner which cultured pearls are harvested has resulted in the small Keshis being washed away.

Keshi occurs in ever type of cultured pearls, and whether small or large, they are fuller in appearance as oppose to being thin and concave. Large Keshis offer wide variance in shape, as oppose to being symmetrical. The largest are most suitable for use in Jewelry Art -- created to complete an individual’s view of self: unique, individual, exceptional… and beautiful.