My "Pearling" Story...

MotherOfPearlTrumpet said:
I finally finished the jewelry store display case upgrade posted earlier. Last Thursday I delivered the remaining braces and and bases to the store. In total 14 cases. Everything fit well, except for the front corner cases! UGHHH, I measured these cases 2X and the first try was a bomb because of a miss-read on my measurement chart when cutting the wood. I had to buy more wood, have my husband help me recut the pieces, then recover them with more leather. (Fortunately I was able to use the wasted leather to cover some more display platforms.) When I installed the re-worked bases, the angle was still OFF!:mad: I didn't have enough leather to recover 2 new pieces, nor did I want to start over and cut more pieces of wood-its still over 100 degrees outside in Texas! The bases actually fit perfectly except for that angle in the front. SO...I got to work mentally deciding how I could fix this "crack.". In the end, since it is a jewelry store, I just placed a flat piece of leather on the inside of the case underneath the base, and then poured crystal vase filler on top (Amazon, glass/high end crystals). These two cases are the first 2 things you see when entering the store. The pictures don't do it justice, because the lights in the store cause these little crystals to glisten and gleam in many beautiful colors. The BIG diamond is also from Amazon-a wedding accent piece. It too works well in a jewelry case that displays wedding ring settings. The store owner LOVES it, even better than if the angles were cut correctly. SCORE! I fixed the problem and I didn't have to re-work the leather and wooden base. Whew!
You can also see the display platforms I covered. There were over 40 of them in different sizes, some with round feet and some that needed wood bottoms so I could staple the leather down. This job took a lot of creative brain work. All of the old display platforms had bonded leather that was sticky, peeling and flaking. I had to remove the round feet, which sometimes ripped off the support piece, and that had to be re-glued and clamped before re-covering with the new bonded leather. I used my sewing machine to sew the corners of each piece for a tight fit, then wrapped them tightly around the base, stapling the bottoms, Lastly, I replaced the wooden ball feet. I had to number the feet when taking them off to be sure the nails/staples went back into the original holes! The store owner saved a BUNDLE not having to replace all those displays plus it gives them new life for many more years, keeping all that stuff out of landfills!
Love it when an idea works and comes together well, plus I had so much fun coming up with the solutions.
I'll post more photos later of the cases with jewelry in them. She was still working on set-ups with the new platforms this past week.
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Wow! Your friend had to be delighted. That was a ton of work and it looks dramatically better. Nice job!
 
Great job!
 
It has been a couple of weeks since I've been able to post anything. My 92 year-old precious mother passed away from an inoperable brain tumor in late September. She was my best friend and a wonderful generous person. Literally less than 24 hours before she passed she was sitting in a wheelchair looking out the front window (she hated to have to be in bed). A young boy-scout and his dad came to the door selling popcorn and when my sister said, "It's not a good time," my mother frantically motioned to her caregiver, which she immediately understood that Mom wanted to purchase some popcorn from that little boy. Amazing!!! Whether it was Meals-on-Wheels, the Nature Conservancy, ASPCA, paying off the student loans of seminarians, donating to the Lutheran Hour, or a plethora of other charitable groups, she always took care of others. She will truly be missed! But especially by me.
 
So, today I'm wearing my Fall greens and burgundy colors. Turns out this little triple Tahitian pearl pendant picks up all the colors of my outfit perfectly (Top Silver-White Akoya, Middle Burgundy Tahitian, Bottom Green/Gray Tahitian). The tiny stone/pearl necklace is Zebra stone from Africa, mixed with 3mm Akoya pearls. A fun Fall combination.
Happy Pumpkin Spice month everyone!
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MotherOfPearlTrumpet said:
It has been a couple of weeks since I've been able to post anything. My 92 year-old precious mother passed away from an inoperable brain tumor in late September. She was my best friend and a wonderful generous person. Literally less than 24 hours before she passed she was sitting in a wheelchair looking out the front window (she hated to have to be in bed). A young boy-scout and his dad came to the door selling popcorn and when my sister said, "It's not a good time," my mother frantically motioned to her caregiver, which she immediately understood that Mom wanted to purchase some popcorn from that little boy. Amazing!!! Whether it was Meals-on-Wheels, the Nature Conservancy, ASPCA, paying off the student loans of seminarians, donating to the Lutheran Hour, or a plethora of other charitable groups, she always took care of others. She will truly be missed! But especially by me.
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Sad news but a lovely story about your mom. It sounds like she was an awesome person.
 
MotherOfPearlTrumpet said:
It has been a couple of weeks since I've been able to post anything. My 92 year-old precious mother passed away from an inoperable brain tumor in late September. She was my best friend and a wonderful generous person. Literally less than 24 hours before she passed she was sitting in a wheelchair looking out the front window (she hated to have to be in bed). A young boy-scout and his dad came to the door selling popcorn and when my sister said, "It's not a good time," my mother frantically motioned to her caregiver, which she immediately understood that Mom wanted to purchase some popcorn from that little boy. Amazing!!! Whether it was Meals-on-Wheels, the Nature Conservancy, ASPCA, paying off the student loans of seminarians, donating to the Lutheran Hour, or a plethora of other charitable groups, she always took care of others. She will truly be missed! But especially by me.
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I'm so sorry for your loss, MOPTrumpet. She sounds like she was a wonderful person. My heart goes out to you and your family.
 
MotherOfPearlTrumpet said:
So, today I'm wearing my Fall greens and burgundy colors. Turns out this little triple Tahitian pearl pendant picks up all the colors of my outfit perfectly (Top Silver-White Akoya, Middle Burgundy Tahitian, Bottom Green/Gray Tahitian). The tiny stone/pearl necklace is Zebra stone from Africa, mixed with 3mm Akoya pearls. A fun Fall combination.
Happy Pumpkin Spice month everyone!
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Love the mixture and it goes perfectly with your top.
 
MotherOfPearlTrumpet said:
It has been a couple of weeks since I've been able to post anything. My 92 year-old precious mother passed away from an inoperable brain tumor in late September. She was my best friend and a wonderful generous person. Literally less than 24 hours before she passed she was sitting in a wheelchair looking out the front window (she hated to have to be in bed). A young boy-scout and his dad came to the door selling popcorn and when my sister said, "It's not a good time," my mother frantically motioned to her caregiver, which she immediately understood that Mom wanted to purchase some popcorn from that little boy. Amazing!!! Whether it was Meals-on-Wheels, the Nature Conservancy, ASPCA, paying off the student loans of seminarians, donating to the Lutheran Hour, or a plethora of other charitable groups, she always took care of others. She will truly be missed! But especially by me.
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My condolences dear
 
I’m so very sorry to hear about your mother. What a lasting memory of her final morning with the popcorn and boy scout staying true to who she was until the very end…
 
So busy with life...thought I'd post some FALL color pearls. This triple strand of dyed freshwater pearls is one of my faves in my "lesser expensive" pearl collection. I have an extender for them, but they work so well up close on my neck (and cover a scar from epiglottal infection and subsequent Tracheotomy when I was 3 years old). The variations of brown color tones remind me of a big box of mixed chocolates, but WAY fewer calories. The smoky topaz ring accents the browns perfectly. I love an unusual ring. Hope everyone is enjoying their Fall colors and a change of season.
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MotherOfPearlTrumpet said:
So busy with life...thought I'd post some FALL color pearls. This triple strand of dyed freshwater pearls is one of my faves in my "lesser expensive" pearl collection. I have an extender for them, but they work so well up close on my neck (and cover a scar from epiglottal infection and subsequent Tracheotomy when I was 3 years old). The variations of brown color tones remind me of a big box of mixed chocolates, but WAY fewer calories. The smoky topaz ring accents the browns perfectly. I love an unusual ring. Hope everyone is enjoying their Fall colors and a change of season.
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Lovely pearls! I was just thinking this morning that I need some chocolate pearls.
 
MotherOfPearlTrumpet said:
My pearl journey begins here, and my guess is that only pearl lovers will care to read this. In my younger years I always loved admired pearls. As a newly employed Legal Secretary (just out of college) I would go on my lunch hours and look at pearls in the downtown high-end jewelry shop. I eventually saved up enough to purchase a nice 5mm 22" strand and 7" bracelet. For many years, this was the ONLY pearl jewelry I owned, and they were reserved for special occasions only. (Why do we do this with jewelry anyway...) Fast forward to Christmas 2019 and a looming Pandemic.

Years before, my mother had received a LOVELY 3-strand 6.5mm Akoya necklace with a diamond clasp from my father. My daughter wore it at her wedding (something borrowed). Then, as my mother aged, she found she was not wearing her pearls often enough; as she always said, "Pearls are meant to be worn." So, my daughter inherited the strand from my mother that Christmas 2019. As a stay-at-home Mom, my daughter told me that she would not have a lot of opportunity to wear such a fancy 3-strand necklace but would love to have a single strand for dates, church and special events. So I did some research and found a reputable pearl restringing service, purchased 3-14K yellow gold bow clasps and sent the strand off to be broken down and restrung into 2-18" necklaces and 1-7" bracelet. They came back restrung and lovely! However, I did not check the clasps before sending everything off to be strung (and neither did the restringing service), and unfortunately one clasp was defective. Ugh! I noticed this when trying on the newly restrung pearls. The clasp seller did exchange the defective one for a new one, but I had to decide if I wanted to pay yet again to ship/insure/restring/ship back AGAIN. So, I asked myself, "How hard can this be...I'm handy an crafty." I looked on YouTube for videos on how to restring pearls! Then, I practiced on cheap beads, eventually moving to inexpensive freshwater pearls, and finally graduated to my mother's Akoya strand. I WAS HOOKED. So many challenges along the way, and still, so very, very much fun.
(Looking back, it would have been WAYYYYY cheaper to just have those pearls restrung again! Hahaha.)

Now, 2 1/2 years later, I have an extensive collection of pearl strands with new and vintage clasps that keeps me excited about wearing jewelry every day! During the course of my endeavors I was able to take the CPPA "Pearls as One" pearl course and was able to become certified. What a blessing that course was, as I searched for the next perfect strand to re-work. There is NO WAY I can show you everything I've done; it will take many postings. However, I will get started today! Perhaps someday I'll sell some of these lovely strands, but for now, I just love the collection. South Sea Whites, South Sea Goldens, Blue Akoya, 2.5mm to 10mm Akoyas, WWII Graduated Strands, Kasumi Pearls, Freshwater pearls of many colors, rice pearls on a 15 strand fat rope necklace (I used the diamond slide clasp from my Mother's original 3-strand necklace), Tahitian blues and grays, even mixing crystal beads and other stones like Jade and Lapis with pearls. I have found designers of quality findings as far away as Israel, who have crafted special clasps and enhancers for me, and found US suppliers with current stock of lovely gold and gold filled or rhodium dipped silver findings that are perfect for so many different needs. To me, the clasp is as important as the strand. My goal is that the clasp/earrings/bracelet values should appropriately match the value of the pearls.

Now, I'm ready to start sharing what I've done with all of you. It has been especially fun to find you all, my pearl brothers and sisters, who share the passion and love for this wonderful creation of God, Man and Nature. Thank you Mr. Mikimoto for perfecting the cultured pearl process!

So, here it goes. Not sure if I should start a whole thread of my own to share these creations (or if I'm even allowed to start a Thread of my own...?) , or post to existing threads. That's why I am starting here on "Show Us Your Pearls!" I'm open to suggestions as to how to share what I have with the rest of you. Posting on the Forum is new for me.

Blessings and thank you for your shared love and interest. I seek only to encourage others and grow in my own knowledge of "Pearling" (the new VERB my daughters lovingly referred to what I do in my spare time). I look forward to continued learning from all of you.

Webster's Definition: Pearling /ˈpərliNG/, noun. 1. the activity or occupation of diving or fishing for pearl oysters. "Pearling was an exciting yet dangerous occupation."
My Definition: Pearling /ˈpərliNG/ verb. 1. the disassembling, reworking, and restringing of pearl jewelry to fill ones time with beauty and new creations. 2. the act of working with pearls, including but not limited to: drilling, stringing, threading, matching, arranging, loosing in the carpet or on the work table, etc. 3. the search for pearls (anywhere, but especially online) to create new jewelry. "Where's Mom?" "She's upstairs pearling again."

Pictured below is a 6-strand Akoya mixed size necklace. The clasp, such a beautiful/unusual/amazing find, had 6 strands of gray Keshi (2-2.5mm-SO tiny...) on it. I painstakingly restrung the Keshi with a different method on a 18K White Gold clasp. I'll share that later.
For this necklace, I worked hard to find varying sizes of Akoya pearls that would work well together. 2-3mm, 1-4.5mm, 1-5mm, 1-5.5mm, 1-6-6.5mm. I was so happy to find all of these different strands and have them match so well in color and quality. It was quite a search. The true challenge was getting the lengths to work. The necklace is 18" long twisted (19" untwisted) and the clasp is 14K Yellow/White Gold with tiny diamonds. The connector opens on both sides and clips around the center "ring." There is a 14K yellow gold heavy bead at the clasp location on each side of each strand to keep the pearls away from the edge of the clasp. It made for a better transition between clasp and strand, rather than cinching the pearls all the way to the inset "grid" on each clasp end. I was really happy with how nicely it turned out.

Enjoy! I am so happy to share this with all of you. Definitely one of my "later" endeavors on the "Pearling" learning curve. (Wanted to make sure the image was large enough to really see the detail.) I'm just getting started. More pictures and stories to come, that is, if you approve.View attachment 462645
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I am flabbergasted! Its stunning yet simple. Great job!!!!!
 
MotherOfPearlTrumpet said:
Thank you for your kind interest. Here is the Keshi strand I spoke about in the story. These are very tiny 2-2.5mm gray Keshi pearls, over 175 per strand and there are 5 strands. One strand was missing when I bought the clasp with the pearls. I decided a white gold clasp would look better with the gray, so I used this lovely magnetic twist 14K white gold clasp. I tried stringing them with #0 silk through the tiny holes and it shredded and broke by 3/4 way through the first strand, as the Keshi are "hollow" and the drilled hole is rough. Thicker silk just wouldn't fit. So, I decided to try "extra fine" beading wire with a silicone coating and that worked much better. I had to keep snipping the ends because they would get ragged as I strung, and strung and strung. I used a 14K white gold crimp bead and 14K white gold heavy ball beads close to the clasp, again, to give some distance between the inset "grid" and when the pearls start just outside the clasp. I don't think I've ever seen a string of pearls like this one...so unique! Almost looks like sea urchin spikes. So many different shapes, some even look like musical eighth notes. View attachment 462649View attachment 462650
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Magnificent
 
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