Pearl Dreams
Pearl Enthusiast
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2007
- Messages
- 9,739
Thanks, newberry!
Here is the closeup of the harpoon clasp. It feels very secure and is easy to operate:
Push together to close. It clicks shut.
To open, it's not really pulling apart but rather applying a pinching or squeezing pressure with thumb and index finger where the two end pearls meet. This presses them apart without stressing the stringing material.
Edited to add: I just saw a page about this kind of clasp in Anna Tabakhova's book, Clasps: 4000 Years Of Fasteners In Jewellery (Ms. Tabakhova is PG member CLICLASP).
Quoting from page 124:
"21st Century, 2009, France, Paris, Schmittgall.
"Schmittgall has specialized in cultured pearls since 1926.
...
"The clasp is made of a tube slotted in four places, slightly swelled in the middle and bowed at the end. The tube is pushed into a hollow plug set in the last pearl on the other end. This mechanism is inspired by the molly bolt® used by plasterers which are expandable sleeves that side into a hole and apply pressure against the wall. The pearls are strung-- thanks to a patented system-- on a steel cable which resists the slight pull its opening requires...."
Here is the closeup of the harpoon clasp. It feels very secure and is easy to operate:
Push together to close. It clicks shut.
To open, it's not really pulling apart but rather applying a pinching or squeezing pressure with thumb and index finger where the two end pearls meet. This presses them apart without stressing the stringing material.
Edited to add: I just saw a page about this kind of clasp in Anna Tabakhova's book, Clasps: 4000 Years Of Fasteners In Jewellery (Ms. Tabakhova is PG member CLICLASP).
Quoting from page 124:
"21st Century, 2009, France, Paris, Schmittgall.
"Schmittgall has specialized in cultured pearls since 1926.
...
"The clasp is made of a tube slotted in four places, slightly swelled in the middle and bowed at the end. The tube is pushed into a hollow plug set in the last pearl on the other end. This mechanism is inspired by the molly bolt® used by plasterers which are expandable sleeves that side into a hole and apply pressure against the wall. The pearls are strung-- thanks to a patented system-- on a steel cable which resists the slight pull its opening requires...."
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