[Perle]

I saw a necklace of keshi (or is it keishi?) pearls today, nuggets of about 5-6mm. They were white but with a rainbow play of colors across them. My Freshadamas have a subtle play of colors (which is lovely!), but this was something different - a vibrant play of colors very easily observable from a distance. I've never seen colors like that on a round pearl, though I'm sure Zeide has some in her collection!

I think Zeide mentioned that bleaching has a negative effect on orient - does that account for the difference? Or are there other factors (e.g., the shape, the host, maybe even color treatment)?

Perle

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Perle,

The keshis have several orient-enhancing factors going for them. Often they are neither bleached nor polished or oiled and their irregular surfaces add diffractive surface orient or wild water to the refractive orient that is the result of deep water (translucency). When Jeremy brings back the untreated freshadamas, we may see some more spectacular colorplay on rounds, too.

Zeide

[Perle]

Hi Zeide,

Thanks for all the great info, as always! I hope Jeremy has some of those in his bags (and bags, and bags!) when he returns from his trip. Not to mention the baroques!

Perle

[Richard W. Wise]

Zeide,

Wild water versus deep water? Interesting and poetic terms! What are their origin?

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Richard,

They are simply translations of German terms that I picked up from other collectors. The German terms are "wildes Wasser" for the diffraction glow of pearls with large surfaces like baroques that have the flirring iridescence of butterfly wings (that is also the type of iridescence seen on coin pearls and flat mother of pearl) and "stilles Wasser" (transformed in English into deep water since the German saying goes "stille Wasser sind tief" or quiet waters are deep, for the refractive iridescence of very clear nacre with the light passing through various translucent layers of aragonite where the platelets face in different directions). Freshadamas have deep water, abalones have wild water, and the pterias from the teaching strand you saw have both at the same time.

Zeide

[Richard W. Wise]

Ziede,

From your explanation above i take it that wild water is a result of light interference, i.e. one beam bouncing off the surface of the pearl and bumping into another and causing a rainbow affect and deep water is a result of diffraction. Love the terms...

RW

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Richard,

Wild water is the result of diffraction and a surface characteristic of the pearl due to the arrangement of aragonite crystals and deep water is the result of refraction due to light being bounced around inside the aragonite layers facing in various directions. Wild water is adversely affected by polishing and oiling deep water is favorably affected by it. Bleaching is detrimental to both.

Zeide

[xeresana]

Zeide,

I just caught this post where you mention a possibility of untreated freshadams? I tried to dig through old posts to see if there was some previous mention of them but, I can't find any. Are they going to be available? I have two freshadama strands already but, I could certainly be convinced to buy more if these guys have even more orient. Do you know if this is something Jeremy is hoping to start offering?

Thanks!

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Xeresana,

It is certainly a product I have been pestering him about for awhile.

Zeide

[perlas]

Going back to keshis, I'm posting a pic for everybody's reference. I assume not everyone has seen what Perle is talking about but I'm guessing it's the white keshis on the photo.

I can't really capture the wild water effect of the white keshis.

[jshepherd]

It is a post-Christmas project. It has already started with the baroque and special colored strands. But it involves combing through fresh harvests for individual selection - something I definitely could not have accomplished with just a couple of days on the ground. But I will be making a small line with the next buy. I do not plan on advertising it on the Website, however. Too many browsers would immediately paint us as a scam if we were to post the age old eBay adage, "Not Treated". They will be for those consumers who know what they are buying and know what they want.

Untreated the orient is best in a bronze-lavender color (to me). It is also beautiful in the whites, but tends to have more of a creamy coloration. Almost like a cream with a slight hint of silver and rose. Several forum members did actually receive these when they were mentioned a few months ago. But before the demand I had not distinguished between treated and non, so when a request was made I had to sort the freshadama in the vault personally to determine which were not treated. There were only a few test kilos, so it was not an easy task.

The dyed strands are now being matched. I am hoping to have some amazing blacks here soon. We will see...! The early results last week were promising.

[Perle]

Thanks for posting the photos, Perlas! Yes, they were like the white ones. After reading Zeide's explanation, I'd now say that what I was struck by was the "wild water" of the keshi. But the "deep water" of the Freshadama is lovely, too - a subtle iridescence with an almost glassy finish.

Zeide and Jeremy, do the untreated Freshadama have other advantages over treated Freshadama, e.g., are they more likely to maintain their beauty over time?

Perle

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Perle,

Untreated pearls are generally less likely to discolor than treated ones (except the dyed black ones) and they do retain their mirror better (because there are no enhancements to wear off). In general, untreated pearls of high quality have better orient and more "glow out."

Zeide

[Perle]

Thanks, Zeide! That makes sense.

Another question: as far as Freshadama treatments go, I was under the impression that they are (gently) bleached but not dyed. Is that right? Is it possible to tell the difference between treated and untreated just by looking at them? I'm guessing it is, if Jeremy was sorting them in that very large vault of his!

Jeremy, what sizes did you have in the untreated? Also, for your new batch, are you working on only the smaller sizes, or the larger ones as well?

Perle

[jshepherd]

The freshadama are bleached, but not dyed. The black freshwater we are currently processing are dyed.
It is possible to tell the difference visually. The only size I have tried unprocessed is 7-8mm. We actually have another 7 kilos of unprocessed coming in next week, but those are completely unprocessed. They are not even drilled yet. But that entire lot is for one client.