Cook Islands Keshi Bracelet

[jshepherd]

As the source well knew my lack of predisposition for pearls with nuclei (from a number of offer rejections in the past) wouldn't be strange if he had withheld something at the time. Will try to find out! As mentioned above, this bracelet has at least served to 'bridge the gap' for us.

I also know that this source does not undervalue such items (remember his quote on those perfectly matched 16mm SS gold buttons?)

I would be really interested in seeing them. Can you imagine? They would mostly be baroque, but they would be huge, and they would have the distinct Cook Island colorations. The nacre would be thicker than SSP as well; maybe 5-6 mm on either side for a total of 10-12 mm. With beads in the 7-10 mm range ... those would be some monsters! I think a strand of them would catapult the Cooks into the industry limelight.

Please let us know if he has any for sale!

 

[SteveM]

Although the source replies in the negative regarding any beaded monsters from the lost oyster line that provided the large keshis, I seem to detect an undertone of playful evasiveness?

 

[jshepherd]

Although the source replies in the negative regarding any beaded monsters from the lost oyster line that provided the large keshis, I seem to detect an undertone of playful evasiveness?

Negative as in none for sale or none at all? There would have to be some. In fact, the majority of the find would be a collection of beaded monsters. The keshi are the occasional extra. I do not know what the exact ratio is (Josh would have a good idea), but that many large keshi in your piece represent a lot of shells and a much larger number of beaded pearls as the primary product.

Do you get the feeling he is holding out? Do you think he is working on something spectacular that he does not want to unveil?

 

[SteveM]

Believe me, I'm insisting. The response is that the line was a keshi line by design, and that the largest ones found are in our bracelet (how convenient that the entire color range is represented?). Allowing benefit of the doubt, what is involved in designing a line of oysters specifically for keshi? Tissue nucleation?

 

[Valeria101]

I can't understand why the owner of a 20mm black pearl would keep quiet about it at all - maybe not selling, but no advertisement?

Maybe the keshi lot of shells wasn't forgotten as much as 'recycled'. The shapes in the bracelet look very 'keshi'... which made me assume so far that these pearls developed from pearl sacks already formed by prior bead nucleation. Would you think there is any chance for that?

 

[jshepherd]

You beat me to it, Valeria101. The keshi look to me to be second generation keshi. The shape and size seem to be representative of an existing pearl sac. In the keshi lot I purchased from Josh there were a lot of really small pieces, and some relatively large pieces that had a similar shape to the second generation freshwater pearls.

So it is possible to harvest a pearl and return the shell to the water to grow a "keshi." This is done in China all the time. But what would make a farmer do this to an entire line of shells? The cost of the larger bead? I know a lot of farmers are not doing second and third grafts because the market price does not sustain the cost of growing the larger pearls. So the only two options other than selling of the shell would be to grow "keshi" or grow blister pearls.

Steve,
Have they explained which type of line was lost? There are different methods of farming P. Marg. shells. Some farms use wire baskets suspended from underwater platforms, and others use what is called a long line system. So if a line were lost I would assume they were using the latter. The way I understand this system it works like this.

A long line system is tied off at two points. Between these two points there are buoys (that I believe are attached to the seabed, but they may not be) which are then attached to the line keeping it afloat between the ends. From this line are attached other lines- these hold the shells. The shells, which have been pierced at the hinge, are then attached at different intervals hanging from the secondary lines attached to the long line.

This is what seems so strange to me. If the entire long line was lost this means that both ends came off their anchor, and all the buoys pulled free as well. I imagine this could happen under the right conditions. But the line would still be attached to the buoys, and the buoys float by design. So if they were lost in open water one would not find them again on the seabed. They would be floating in the lagoon. If they left the lagoon they would be swept out to sea.

But there are two other possibilities. What if the line snapped between the buoys? It would have to break in two locations. They are separated by about 20 yards so that would be a lot of shells that would fall to the bottom and possibly get swept to another area of the lagoon.

It seems most plausible to me that a secondary line became unattached from the long line and fell. But that would not account for so many shells so it would not make sense. I would think only the first scenario would be possible.

This is all just conjecture on my part. I wonder where Josh is. He could weigh in on all the theories.

 

[SteveM]

I can't understand why the owner of a 20mm black pearl would keep quiet about it at all

It is clear that nothing of the sort was obtained in this case.

Maybe the keshi lot of shells wasn't forgotten as much as 'recycled'.

Timeline: Manihiki pearl farms (and the entire Cook Islands pearl industry) were wiped out in 1997 by Cyclone Martin. First harvest after recovery would have taken at least a couple of years, so a harvested and 'lost' line beginning as advertised around 2000/2001 to produce the keshis in question is a possibility.

It seems most plausible to me that a secondary line became unattached from the long line and fell. But that would not account for so many shells so it would not make sense.

Still hoping for more detail. But as I was told the bracelet contains the entirety of what was found (of any size), it does seem that loss of a secondary line is the likely explanation—also regarding why it was not re-nucleated at the time??

 

[jshepherd]

Timeline: Manihiki pearl farms (and the entire Cook Islands pearl industry) were wiped out in 1997 by Cyclone Martin. First harvest after recovery would have taken at least a couple of years, so a harvested and 'lost' line beginning as advertised around 2000/2001 to produce the keshis in question is a possibility.

I imagine that would have pulled a lot of lines free. There is no chance the shells were in the water in 1997, not 2000/2001?

Still hoping for more detail. But as I was told the bracelet contains the entirety of what was found (of any size), it does seem that loss of a secondary line is the likely explanation—also regarding why it was not re-nucleated at the time??

But the bracelet has 17 pearls. If the pearls are 2nd gen. "keshi" they grew in the sac. So only one pearl would grow per shell. A single secondary line would only have 6 to 8 shells attached. Also, the number of shells to create a bracelet like that would be quite large, especially considering the dramatic attrition rate that would occur with unattended shells on the bottom for so long. It would have to be an entire line or a large portion of one.

Pearl detectives of the PG! We will get to the bottom of this!

 

[SteveM]

it does seem that loss of a secondary line is the likely explanation?also regarding why it was not re-nucleated at the time??

On logging out it dawned on me that the decision to produce keshi would have been made at the time of harvest, right? So the line would have been a designated keshi line prior to its loss.

 

[SteveM]

I imagine that would have pulled a lot of lines free. There is no chance the shells were in the water in 1997, not 2000/2001?

If this were true and not utilized, then that would be symptomatic of Cook Islands' PR deficit in general. Would make a great story?one that all but the most scrupulous of marketers would drool over.

Pearl detectives of the PG! We will get to the bottom of this!

No one more interested than I!

 

[jshepherd]

On logging out it dawned on me that the decision to produce keshi would have been made at the time of harvest, right? So the line would have been a designated keshi line prior to its loss.

Yes. That is what lends credence to the notion of the second generation pearl sac. How else could a line of shells be designated a "keshi" line. Btw, I use keshi in "" because second generation pearls are not accidental, but they are still called keshi.

 

[SteveM]

Btw, I use keshi in "" because second generation pearls are not accidental, but they are still called keshi.

I reviewed my first post here, and it would have been more accurate to say that the pearls resulted from a 'lost keshi line' as this is exactly how they were presented to me. Thereby the apparent assumption by some that they were accidental (other than the unintentionally long growing period) might have been avoided.

 

[jshepherd]

I just combed through some of the keshi I received from Josh last year. I purchased a kilo from him and as far as I know none were intentional. But many of the larger ones look to me like the bead was expelled but the sac stayed, resulting in some larger pieces that look like they formed withing an existing sac. There were quite a lot of other large ones as well, but I selected these because they are all over 10 mm, and they range to about 13 mm.



What I am trying to show is that it would take a lot of keshi, in fact a lot of large keshi, to match a bracelet like that as they just come in so many different forms. So I would assume the lost line would have produced a lot to make that piece. Just going by what I have here my guess is it would take 2-3 kilo of mixed keshi to collect enough to make such a perfect suite. Only a couple of these pictured pieces would work.

Btw, I still have not decided what to do with them yet. They are a fun novelty but we have been so busy with the day to day we have not sat down to figure anything out yet. I have considered buying several kilo, drilling and matching them in China, then creating multi-strand necklaces.

 

[SteveM]

I have considered buying several kilo?

The impression given by the ability to purchase by the kilo is distinctly industrial?appears to be reflected in incredibly accessible Tahitian keshi pricing as well. Could Tahiti be in the process of flooding the "keshi" market the way they did beaded black pearls a number of years ago?

So I would assume the lost line would have produced a lot to make that piece.

Or, it may be assumed that the find is as rare as has been reported.


At the time our bracelet was purchased, we asked about further availability for matching studs, additional bracelets as extenders, etc. and were told:

"Keshi of this size are virtually non-existent, I may convince [the farmers] to produce more but Keshi of this size take aprox 6 years plus. Most farmers will not entertain waiting that long."


Following is some additional input received from the Cooks today, in response to Jeremy?s longer conjectural post. It seems the lost lines were simply abandoned during a period coinciding with the Tahitian pearl glut (sorry, Cyclone Martin!). Not all of the questions are answered by any means, but an attempt will be made to provide other answers, such as the second harvest issue, in coming weeks during preparation for Spring harvest. I for one am not concerned that the keshi might have been preconceived (except for the size), given the results.

A long line system is tied off at two points. Between these two points there are buoys (that I believe are attached to the seabed, but they may not be) which are then attached to the line keeping it afloat between the ends. From this line are attached other lines- these hold the shells. The shells, which have been pierced at the hinge, are then attached at different intervals hanging from the secondary lines attached to the long line.

"Correct."

So if [the lines] were lost in open water one would not find them again on the seabed. They would be floating in the lagoon. If they left the lagoon they would be swept out to sea.

"The 'lost lines' were indeed those which secured the shells, we refer to them as 'chaplets'. IE they were not pulled up when they should have been, from time to time, depending on quantity re-seeded, the same area of long line is unused, hence the lines containing the Keshi were left untouched. When it became pertinent for the farmer to use his total long line area once again, he found the untouched chaplets."


A bit less romantic than we may have imagined?

 

[Valeria101]

Btw, I still have not decided what to do with them yet.

Why... there are several perfect pairs of earrings right there!

 

[jshepherd]

The impression given by the ability to purchase by the kilo is distinctly industrial?appears to be reflected in incredibly accessible Tahitian keshi pricing as well. Could Tahiti be in the process of flooding the "keshi" market the way they did beaded black pearls a number of years ago?

Most pearls are bought and sold by weight. A mixed lot of keshi would likely be priced by the gram and a kilo would be a workable lot- enough pearls to create a few different pieces. This is not to say a kilo of keshi would be cheap. Not as expensive as selection-buying, but definitely not cheap.

Keshi by selection can be quite expensive. But unless a farmer keeps something "special" from the harvest, keshis and rounds are all sold as lots. These lots are valuated (both in the Cooks and FP) by unit, average gram or momme weight per unit, grade and color. It is not until the pearls reach the B&M wholesale level, or even the retail level before they are valuated as single pearls or finished pieces (for the most part).

I don't think Tahiti is flooding the market with keshi. They are simply a bi-product on the pearling industry and intentional production is not common as far as I know. The current market price would not make it a viable option.

I don't recall exactly, but I believe Josh harvested about 30 kilo of keshi with his fall harvest. The size range is dramatic. Some are as small as 2 mm and others are quite large. Those in the photo above grew in two years.

I would not be concerned whether or not keshi are preconceived either. There is no difference in the pearl. They are still consiered "keshi" industry wide with no differentiation.

Too bad it was not an entire lost line. That would have been perfect if it did have a Cyclone Martin story attached to it!

Why... there are several perfect pairs of earrings right there!

Earrings are too easy! I am not saying I want to do something difficult. But it would be fun to do something different.

 

[jerin]

Earrings are too easy! I am not saying I want to do something difficult. But it would be fun to do something different.

Well Jeremy, how about pin-brooches or brooches in different findings? Together with a matching pair of earrings these Keshis would be very trendy and unusual.

And we PG:ers always want to be the first to have something that not every woman aslredy has.

 

[Valeria101]

Earrings are too easy! I am not saying I want to do something difficult. But it would be fun to do something different.

Yes... earrings are easy, but I can almost feel their weight on my earlobes looking at that white & black pair in the foreground Those uncommon pearls are anything but dull.

Did the design crew at PearlParadise have a go at the 'Something different' assignment already? It seems so critical to have the material at hand to experiment with... and test the results if the design rally is something different.

 

[SteveM]

Why... there are several perfect pairs of earrings right there!

I had faith this thread would find a noble cause?

 

[SteveM]

I don't recall exactly, but I believe Josh harvested about 30 kilo of keshi with his fall harvest.

I'm still a bit mystified by these numbers: Given the average weight of the pearls in our bracelet of 2.5g, 30 kilos would be 12,000 such pearls?many thousands more considering the smaller average size. How many oysters does that entail, and how many does Josh farm in total? Sounds huge?