Quote:
Originally Posted by Valeria101  You say 'keshi' for the Celebes pearl because of the shape, but it is a natural pearl, right? |
My understanding of the term "keshi" refers to a pearl formed as a byproduct of the culturing process, when an oyster rejects the implanted bead yet has become sufficiently irritated to form a pearl without a bead nucleus. The word has nothing to do with the shape. For example, I have many perfectly spherical, enormous golden "Keshi." When the term first came into use, it had a looser definition, and applied to shape to some degree; but now I think it applies only to mechanism of pearl formation.
Also, I only use the word "natural" for a pearl that has never had any human intervention; hence there can be no natural "Keshi" pearl, as the terms are mutually exclusive.
Tested with various types of scans, this Celebes "keshi" contains no bead; yet it is not a "natural."
In contrast with my definitions, I have encountered a number of people who know pearls and insist that some keshi pearls form spontaneously.