Keshi or not?

[JoseeCL]

I'm having trouble posting!!!!
Ok, now it's working.
I need some help. I recently purchased 2 tahitian pearl necklaces from a trusted seller but the seller couldn't give me much info on the pearls.
Are they keshi like I think they are?
What do you think those red accents between the pearls could be? Coral?
Why are the colors so different from one necklace to the other? Different origin of pearls?

 

[NacreLover]

I have been looking at your photos. The gems appear to be carnelian beads. That strand may be Tahitian pearls, but the other one appears to be dyed freshwater pearls. Neither strand look like any Tahitian keshi strand I've seen. Who was the person you bought them from?

 

[cmd2014]

I agree with Nacrelover. The tin cup strand looks like dyed freshwater pearls (the shape, size, and colour are all wrong for Tahitians and are much more consistent with Chinese dyed freshwater pearls).

I also have never seen Tahitians like what is in your strand. While the colour is closer to what you would expect, the shape and surface quality look odd to me. They don't look like Tahitian keshi to my eye (I'd be inclined to think that they might be dyed Chinese freshwater pearls as well).

I'd be curious to know where you bought them from as well.

 

[NacreLover]

JosceeCL, Did you get these pearls from the same seller who sold you the Tahitian strands you listed today on Show me your pearls?

 

[JoseeCL]

I bought them from a trusted conseignment seller that I've bought Genuine Prada handbags from before. Very trusted seller. First time I but pearls from them but I trusted they were tahitian because they do have other listing service that are freshwater and what not.
So the one with the beads, you don't think they are Tahitian keshi? They have a very high metallic luster and are irregular shaped.
The other 2 strands, you think they are freshwater? I love the play of colors! And I feel it they were cheap pearls the clasp would most likely be cheap steel but they are 925 sterling silver, I was kinda surprised at that.

 

[JoseeCL]

No. I got these 3 strands from "Linda's Closet" conseignment.
I'm kinda dissapointed they are not keshi or tahitian
I trust this seller. Maybe they just didn't know. I have seen other necklaces displaying tahitian keshi like the ones in the strand with the red beads on Kojima.

 

[JoseeCL]

NacreLover & cdm2014
I got the stock photos from the seller as well as listing description. Tell me what you think please.

 

[JoseeCL]

And the other

 

[Siameseroo]

Neither necklaces look like Tahitian Keshi to me. There is something off about the pearls in the carnelian necklace and the pearls in the tin cup are definitely dyed freshwater pearls.

The shape of the pearls in both look exactly like these freshwater 'nugget' pearls from Wen Pearls. The colours look dyed too.


For your reference here are some photos of real Tahitian Keshi.

Pearl House:



Pearl paradise:

 

[JoseeCL]

Thank you siameseroo. I appreciate the pictures. I've only been dealing with pearl for a year and it's still very hard for me to know what's what.
In this case I only paid 90$ for all 3 necklaces including shipping so I guess I can't complain. I still like them. They are pretty necklaces, but my search for my tahitian keshi necklace continues
I was considering buying another necklaces from the same seller but now I'm thinking I should just save my money for a real keshi tahitian necklace.
This is the one I was thinking of buying. What are your thoughts on this one? Freshwater dyed again?

 

[Siameseroo]

Very pretty and if the price was right I'd happy buy and wear it as a fun rope of dyed freshwater pearls. But for reasons listed above I highly doubt they are Tahitian keshi.

Oh good, I'm glad you didn't spend too much on the necklaces. If they were genuine Tahitians, the pearls alone would likely cost more than that. If the price is too good to be true it probably is!

 

[cmd2014]

I would stop buying from this vendor. None of what they are selling are Tahitian pearls. They are all dyed Chinese freshwater pearls, and the price is reflecting that. If you want real Tahitian pearls, I'd direct you to the trusted vendor sticky here (so places like Pearl Paradise, Pure Pearls, Pearls of Joy, Kojima, Kamoka, and American pearl). For the price, you are getting very pretty and fun necklaces, but they are misrepresenting what kind of pearls these are.

 

[NacreLover]

These are the pearls I was referring to. What did they tell you these were?

 

[JoseeCL]

The tiny one just black pearl.
But the other 2 are suppose to be tahitian but I don't think they are. They don't look like tahitians that I've seen.

 

[NacreLover]

But were you lead to believe they were when you bought them? I will tell you I was heart sick for you after seeing these pearls on the thread above. No one wants a budding pearl enthusiast being taken advantaged by a bad vendor. If you bought them from Linda's closet you should turn her into eBay and have paypal refund your money. This is fraud. I went to her eBay site and she has many pearl items incorrectly marked. These for instance are not Tahitian pearls.

http://m.ebay.com/itm/311813619765?_mwBanner=1

 

[JoseeCL]

So I guess the only "good" quality ones I have are the vietnamese blue akoya & my 3 sea of cortez pendants

 

[JoseeCL]

NacreLover, I appreciate that. It is hard when you are just starting out in the Rhelm of pearls... so many different kinds it's hard to know what is good and what isn't
And yes, right now I feel foolish and feel like I've been taken advantage of. I wanted a nice genuine tahitian pearl necklace more than anything and after 4 purchases of different tahitian necklaces none turn out to be authentic
The 2 bigger ones I paid enough for as well. I think the 8-9mm was 150$ and the 12-13mm was 350$
I'm thankful at least I have my vietnamese blue akoya from Pearl Paradise and my Sea of Cortez from Perlas del Mar de Cortez.
I guess my search continues for my tahitian necklace I still long for. I wish I would have waited and not waisted my money on the fake ones

 

[NacreLover]

If you are unsure of a purchase please come to the forum and ask us for advise. The vendor list at the top of our page is a good source of pearls that are accurately listed. There are more vendors out there like Mikimoto which is not on the list, but they are very expensive. Ebay and Esty are hit an miss with the good sellers and bad mixed. Since you can't tell many times especially if you are new, you may want to steer clear of those places to buy for now. If for instance you want to collect sea of cortez pearls, you may want to invest in a black light flash light. They are available at your local auto parts store for under $10.00. If the pearls turn bright hot pink they are the real deal. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M27TAPE/ref=sxr_pa_click_within_right_2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=2795410502&pf_rd_r=4JWW93KEY8BDJSE9JKVD&pd_rd_wg=RmcHw&pf_rd_s=desktop-rhs-carousels&pf_rd_t=301&pd_rd_w=LPBuv&pf_rd_i=black+light+flashight&pd_rd_r=GPXZ8NCWPK5BNKZ10YB1&psc=1

Edited to add. I went to Ms. Linda and sent her a copy of this thread. Bad press on the internet lasts forever.
So, Ms. Linda's closet. Clean up your act.

 

[JoseeCL]

Thanks NacreLover
So do you think these are dyed? Do you think they are South Sea? Not tahitian though right?

 

[NacreLover]

They appear to be dyed freshwater pearls.

 

[katbran]

The bottom line is that Keshi pearls are not inexpensive. Retail is often around 10-15$ PER pearl . Price alone tells you they cannot be Tahitian Keshi. But you got some cute necklaces for 90$ so it's not the end of the world. I'd send them a note though and if it bothers you tell them you want a refund.

 

[JoseeCL]

I know they are genuine pearls, just not what I was paying for. The 2 little necklaces I got I'm kinda bummed to find out they are not Keshi but they are still beautiful. I did send an email to the seller. They have not replied.
The other 2 though I did pay more and I am upset they are not tahitian. Could they be dyed saltwater? Or South sea? I would hate to think I paid so much just for freshwater and those were bought last year so I wouldn't even be able to get a refund :/
Funny enough, the freshwater nuget one I really like! It's really comfortable and so cute! The pearl are actually really nice and have a really nice glow to them and the other one with the really colorful pearls is cute too they're not tahitian but 90$ wasn't that bad I guess....

 

[cmd2014]

I'm so sorry your pearls aren't what you were told they were. I've had a similar thing happen to me when I was starting out. I'd still try going through eBay/PayPal even though some time has gone by. You never know, especially since you were misled about something that dramatically affects value.

I wouldn't say that you overpaid for what you got though. They look like very pretty, good sized pearls with nice luster. What you paid would be well in line with what freshwater pearls typically sell for. Tahitians of similar size to your large strand would be much more expensive (for comparison, I paid $800+ for an 8-10.7 mm oval strand, and that was a once per year sale price; the regular price was >$1000). Keshi can be even more expensive. You'll get a better sense of price by looking at the various trusted vendor sites. I hope it makes you feel a little better to know that you really did pay a reasonable price for the type of pearls you got, even though they aren't what you thought they were.

People here will always be happy to help out if you want to run things by people before you buy.

 

[NacreLover]

I know they are genuine pearls, just not what I was paying for. The 2 little necklaces I got I'm kinda bummed to find out they are not Keshi but they are still beautiful. I did send an email to the seller. They have not replied.
The other 2 though I did pay more and I am upset they are not tahitian. Could they be dyed saltwater? Or South sea? I would hate to think I paid so much just for freshwater and those were bought last year so I wouldn't even be able to get a refund :/
Funny enough, the freshwater nuget one I really like! It's really comfortable and so cute! The pearl are actually really nice and have a really nice glow to them and the other one with the really colorful pearls is cute too they're not tahitian but 90$ wasn't that bad I guess....

No, They couldn't be dyed salt water pearls. The shape look like freshwater and if you blow up the photo shows uneven dye and lines on the pearls, also the color they have used is not something you normally see in Tahitians. Purple and blue? (blue are rare) While they do dye akoya pearls the pearls shown are not akoya, I have never seen them dye pearls from the much larger Silver-lipped South Sea pearl oysters. If they did it would diminish the worth of these very expensive pearls and the price you paid are not in that ball park either, the shape of your pearls is also wrong for this variety. The eggy shape of the other colorful pearls you posted were a sure give away they were not Tahitian or south sea.

 

[NacreLover]

Are you willing to disclose where the other strands came from?

 

[stracci2000]

The fact that "Linda's Stuff" has 140,900 items listed on Ebay tells me right there to STAY AWAY.

 

[Siameseroo]

Agree with the others, definitely dyed freshwater pearls.

 

[JoseeCL]

Linda's stuff is not a bad seller. I've bought some authentic Prada handbags from them. I'm thinking they probably didn't know. They don't specialise in pearls.
The other pearls I can't quite remember, I would have to look... but it seems to me they came from Hong Kong... I think. 2 different sellers but they look very similar one to the other.

 

[JoseeCL]

I remember asking the seller lots of questions about them being tahitian. He said it was a new process and they were harvesting black lipped oysters in Hong Kong or China. He assured me they were tahitian. And I remember I was a little upset when I got them because they didn't look like the picture on ebay.

 

[cmd2014]

That makes me so angry on your behalf. Sadly, ebay is full of misrepresented items, and it is a huge buyer beware type market. You're much better off buying from a reputable vendor and being able to have confidence in what you are getting (and who offers a generous return policy).