Confused and help required @_@

[michellechan2211]

So I bought a string of blue keishi from a seller (which shall be unnamed for the time being) and they arrived today. Now, they are very pretty and I was going to congratulate myself on another successful ebay purchase. Then I spotted this, which looked like wear on the nacre, and which I was initially confused about- because Keishis are supposed to be 100% nacre (this was also noted in the Ebay listing).

The flaw I noted is outlined in a red box.



Then I saw this little one which looked quite a lot like a bead. And it made me even more confused (again, outlined in a red box)




Now I'm wondering what I got @_@ I think that these are bead nucleated pearls of rather poor quality but I hope that one (or more) of the experts here can give me their opinion so I can decide on the course of action I am going to take. Seller is not named at the moment because I have not contacted the seller yet.

Thank you all in advance for reading through this thread. XD;

 

[NacreLover]

Other than that one odd pearl, do you like them? I agree it's pretty weird looking. I hope you seller takes returns if you choose to send them back. They don't have a obvious bead in any in the photo but the strange one would be a deal breaker for me.

 

[bsomlo]

That "albino" spot, a small patch where the color is missing in the nacre, seems to happen now and again on pearls. When I've bought a strand with a pearl with a little albino spot -- the vendor has mentioned it to make sure I know and make sure I am okay with that. That particular flaw on a pearl doesn't bother me much (pits bother me a lot). That weird crater in the pearl in your second picture would displease me for sure. It's almost like a hollow plastic bead got pressed and collapsed inwards. Keep us posted.

 

[seaurchin]

I have a string of inexpensive, irregular shaped pearls from ebay that have some dead spots (or "albino" spots, as bsomlo called them). I might paint over the spots with white pearly nail polish if I get around to it. The strange bead, my guess is they also string beads and one of them just got mixed in with the pearls and went unnoticed. I can't tell if the pearls are knotted but if they're not, you could easily restring them yourself if you wanted, and toss the two problem pieces.

 

[michellechan2211]

@Nacrelover:
Honestly, I did like them in terms of color; they had the blue coloration I was looking for, and I was looking to string a Tahitian with them had all gone well. However, in terms of quality, I am not so sure: the nacre is uneven of some of them and the 'albino' spots do not just appear on that one pearl. Perhaps it was to be expected because they were inexpensive though so I will have to think about it. Yes, my seller does take returns.

@Bsomlo: Good to know that it is a normal flaw, I was worried there ^^;

@Seaurchin:
Honestly, I don't think that it was a mix up; the strange little bead there was an area which was not pictures that was somewhat covered in blue nacre. That's the only way I could think to describe it.

 

[Pearlescence]

There may be great pearls somewhere on eBay but generally people are disappointed. My impression is that quality is going down and down as more people list to jump on the bandwagon and compete on price. Those don't look like keishi to me, more like -well - baroque sort of lumps. maybe a few are a bit keishi but most look like potatoes.
That one with the sunken round is weird. sort of an anti-pearl.

 

[pkinnew]

Are there enough pearls you like in this strand to keep it for future projects? If not I would return it, especially after seeing that round bead "pearl". Good luck!

 

[kylier]

The circle bead thing would really bother me, and make me doubt the others, although they are beautiful Keshi. I'm not sure what it is though.

 

[ltlmsmfft]

I know very little compared to many of the other people here; but, that dented bead seems completely unacceptable to me. I agree with others that if the price was cheap enough and you can restring the better pearls or use them in another project, keep them. If not, I would return them since the seller accepts returns.