Drill hole size

[Jaelep]

Hello,
I am a newbie to pearl education and admit I am addicted and obsessed with Tahitian pearls.

I am collecting a variety of loose pearls
Please advise on drill hole size based on pearl size for:
Earrings
Stringing

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise.

 

[JerseyPearl]

For stringing, it depends on the size of the pearls and the weight of the thread you wish to use. Generally though, you would look at 0.8-1.0mm for 8-15mm pearls.

The second question is much more difficult to answer, since it very much depends on the size of the post the pearl will be mounted upon. You want a close fit. Ideally, pearls should be custom drilled for their mounts. I recently made a pendant style dangle from a tin cup necklace that was wire wrapped, but for one pearl (the one on the pendant, which sat at the back of the neck).The pearl cup and post on that piece were very oddly sized...the post was almost as long as the pearl and it was just a hair over 1.0mm. 1.1mm would have been too large, so I had to work on filing out the 1.0mm hole I drilled as well as removing excess length from the post (and filing down sharp edges.) I actually featured this one on my Instagram feed recently, in case anyone is interested in seeing! But that's a long winded way of saying you really should have the mountings decided upon BEFORE you drill the pearls.