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Keshi pearls consist of solid nacre, and tend to have high luster as a result. All nacre colors typical of the mollusc under cultivation may be represented among keshi pearls harvested from the same, but in the case of Akoya pearls a larger portion of keshi is usually grey than of bead-nucleated pearls.
The iridescent nacre inside a nautilus shell Nacreous shell worked into a decorative object. Nacre (/ ˈ n eɪ k ər / NAY-kər, also / ˈ n æ k r ə / NAK-rə), [1] also known as mother-of-pearl, is an organic–inorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer. It is also the material of which pearls are composed.
Therefore, the pearl industry is making ongoing attempts to improve culturing technique so that keshi pearls do not occur. All-nacre pearls may one day be limited to natural found pearls. [16] [17] [18] Today many "keshi" pearls are actually intentional, with post-harvest shells returned to the water to regenerate a pearl in the existing pearl sac.
They are not to be confused with cultured pearls, which are real pearls created through human intervention. Materials used to create imitation pearls include glass, plastic, and mollusc shells. As an alternative, some plastic beads are coated with a pearlescent substance to imitate the natural iridescence of nacre or mother of pearl.
White pearl necklace. A pearl nucleus or a bead for cultured pearl is a sphere (usually) or other shape (occasionally) formed only by cutting and polishing a nacreous shell used to accommodate the nacre secreted from a graft of mantle tissue, that eventually forms the centre of a beaded cultured pearl. [2]
Majorica imitation pearls are man-made on solid balls, likely made of glass, that are coated with a proprietary coating that is made in part from fish scales. [1] The coated nuclei are then dried and polished, and then dipped in a chemical (possibly cellulose acetate and cellulose nitrate) to harden the surface and guard against discoloration, chipping, and peeling.
Although these are a variety of cultured saltwater pearls, the amount of time that the pearls are cultured dramatically increases the depth of the nacre, and the likelihood of producing a baroque pearl. Most Tahitian pearl farm harvests, which, for example, produce more than 40 percent baroque and semi-baroque pearls.
A selection of glass beads Merovingian bead Trade beads, 18th century Trade beads, 18th century. A bead is a small, decorative object that is formed in a variety of shapes and sizes of a material such as stone, bone, shell, glass, plastic, wood, or pearl and with a small hole for threading or stringing. Beads range in size from under 1 ...