Greetings fellow pearl lovers. I have loved jewelry every since I can remember. I am also a trumpet player by profession. The tops of the valves of the trumpet are "Mother of Pearl," hence my screen name.
Recently my mother gave my daughter her 3-strand lovely genuine Akoya 7mm necklace with a diamond clasp. I knew she would never wear the necklace that way so I offered to have it restrung. I sought out some lovely 14K gold bow clasps on Etsy and purchased 3 of them to have them restrung into 2-18" Necklaces and 1-7" Bracelet. I paid to have them shipped to a pearl restringing company in NYC. Upon their return I realized that one of the clasps purchased was defective! Ugh, my mistake for not checking them before sending to be restrung. With hesitation, I cut off the defective clasp and sent it back to the seller for an exchange. When the new clasp came I was not looking forward to properly boxing, taking it to the post office, and paying for shipping, insurance, and yet another restringing job.
So, I said to myself, "How difficult can restringing pearls be?" I got on YouTube and watched several videos on how to restring pearls. I purchased some inexpensive freshwater pearls to practice, and I was off!
Long story short, months later I have become the Mother of Pearl Trumpet!
Let me just say, I'm all about the Clasp with the Pearls.
No "plain Jane" (sorry to anyone named Jane out there) clasps for me. I have found vintage clasps on EBay and had them repaired, polished and then restrung with new or different pearls. It has been so much fun creating new and beautiful pearl necklaces, bracelets and earrings. I love taking the vintage and older, and giving it a fresh look. With the help of my local jeweler (to check for authenticity and handle repairs) I have made some stellar new creations. My profile picture is a double strand of Vintage Akoya pearls 8.5-9mm, creamy white, and an 18K White Gold Rhodium Dipped Clasp with small rubies and a center diamond. This was a European Strand with it's own pearls that will be turned into an Opera Strand with yet another clasp I'm ordering from India.
I plan on creating a thread that will celebrate "Pearls Restrung" and feature pictures of my projects and submit them for fun. I'd love to see yours too, if you want to post.
I even created a new Verb for my craft..."Pearling", now my kids say, Mom is Pearling again.
Looking forward to reading your posts, and posting more of my own creations.
Recently my mother gave my daughter her 3-strand lovely genuine Akoya 7mm necklace with a diamond clasp. I knew she would never wear the necklace that way so I offered to have it restrung. I sought out some lovely 14K gold bow clasps on Etsy and purchased 3 of them to have them restrung into 2-18" Necklaces and 1-7" Bracelet. I paid to have them shipped to a pearl restringing company in NYC. Upon their return I realized that one of the clasps purchased was defective! Ugh, my mistake for not checking them before sending to be restrung. With hesitation, I cut off the defective clasp and sent it back to the seller for an exchange. When the new clasp came I was not looking forward to properly boxing, taking it to the post office, and paying for shipping, insurance, and yet another restringing job.
So, I said to myself, "How difficult can restringing pearls be?" I got on YouTube and watched several videos on how to restring pearls. I purchased some inexpensive freshwater pearls to practice, and I was off!
Long story short, months later I have become the Mother of Pearl Trumpet!
Let me just say, I'm all about the Clasp with the Pearls.
No "plain Jane" (sorry to anyone named Jane out there) clasps for me. I have found vintage clasps on EBay and had them repaired, polished and then restrung with new or different pearls. It has been so much fun creating new and beautiful pearl necklaces, bracelets and earrings. I love taking the vintage and older, and giving it a fresh look. With the help of my local jeweler (to check for authenticity and handle repairs) I have made some stellar new creations. My profile picture is a double strand of Vintage Akoya pearls 8.5-9mm, creamy white, and an 18K White Gold Rhodium Dipped Clasp with small rubies and a center diamond. This was a European Strand with it's own pearls that will be turned into an Opera Strand with yet another clasp I'm ordering from India.
I plan on creating a thread that will celebrate "Pearls Restrung" and feature pictures of my projects and submit them for fun. I'd love to see yours too, if you want to post.
I even created a new Verb for my craft..."Pearling", now my kids say, Mom is Pearling again.
Looking forward to reading your posts, and posting more of my own creations.