Luster is one of the dominate factors in judging a good pearl. Different from the harsh diamonds, pearl is eye-catching with soft shine. The value and beauty of pearls depend, of course, on a number of factors. The degree of finish can be a decisive factor. The so-called finish degree simply means the defect size and distribution.
The common pearl flaws we can see are as follows:
Bump and Welt
Irregular bumps are formed from excessive secretion of nacre. They do not affect the basic pearl shapes, but we can see them easily with our naked eyes.
Pinpoint and Pimple
Generally speaking, protruding dots, pinpoints and pimples are small on the pearl surface. They are not easy to be seen unless you observe carefully.
Dark spot
It is caused by the imbalance in the secretion of black skin. The dark spots often concentrate in one point and they can be washed away in the bleaching process.
Dull spot
The uneven secretion of nacre weakens the luster, but it does not affect the pearl durability. However, if the dull spot is formed by human body, cosmetics or hairspray, the nacre will be fade off and durability will be affected as well.
Clip
It is common to see clips in the part of drilled hole of the pearl surface, especially for the pearls with thin nacre. It not only affects the appearance, but also gathers dirt.
Crack
Small cracks look like wrinkles and large cracks are same as hairs. The cracks in the pearl nacre affect the durability in a severe way.
Then on the wall opposite from the doorway, is my large painting table, where I create mixed media designs. I love this huge table and drawers that I got at Ikea this year!!!
And this shot shows the other side of my painting table..
And as we continue around the room, we get to my other Ikea table which is where I do my wire wrapping and jewelry assembly at. This is where I spend a lot of time at, and so it's a bit messier. 
And next to my jewelry table is my workbench, where I solder and finish all of my jewelry at. My workbench is the dirtiest place in my studio due to the nature of metalsmithing work. The soldering process is very messy, and polishing is even worse. That's why my bench is in front of my only window, so that I can get plenty of ventilation while working! I always wear a particle mask while working as well as safety goggles...because you never know when a piece of metal might take flight, not to mention the toxic fumes and dust that happens while working with metal and compounds. 
You can really see how dirty soldering can get! The black things are pieces of my charcoal block which have disintegrated. They are still usable though, and I will continue using the bits and pieces until they are much smaller. The dust around is from polishing and finishing work.
Thank you for taking a tour of my studio. If you enjoy seeing where artists create, I encourage you to take a peek my teammates blogs, where they are also sharing their work spaces this month. :)