My "Pearling" Story...

Oh my goodness, has it really been since last October since I posted a necklace...Yikes. I've missed you all.
Last November, my son-in-law, who has a congenital heart defect and is now in his early 30's, experienced a serious health episode while on vacation in Scotland. At home he drinks lots of caffeine and was also a "dipper" (tobacco in the bottom lip). Well those activities were apparently artificially pumping up his blood pressure, which is what allowed his bad valve congenital to continue so long untreated. When he was away from the caffeine and tobacco during his vacation, his BP plummeted and he wasn't sure he could make it home. They did, fortunately, but it was a REALLY scary plane ride for my daughter...checking to make sure he was still breathing the entire way across the Atlantic. Once they got home, they went right to the ER and it was determined he needed open heart surgery to replace his valve. The cardiologist told him to keep up the salt and caffeine until the surgery, also gave him a BP med to raise his BP. Fortunately, he was able to give up the tobacco during this time. After a month of light-headedness, anxiety and fear, he had his open heart surgery. The surgeon was able to find a human valve to install, which it totally cool, right! He is recovering well physically. His heart was greatly enlarged from years of over-work so now that the new valve is functioning better, the hope is that his heart will begin to "atrophy" and return to a more normal size. His greatest challenges have been emotional. He's been dealing with panic and PTSD fear. A therapist has prescribed anti-anxiety meds so he can sleep properly and heal. Things are finally going better. What a wild ride for my entire family. Thank the Lord he is on the right path toward recovery and is enjoying his beautiful 2-year old daughter and wife again, with less fear. Between this and the Christmas holidays, I just haven't been able to post anything.
I have, however, really enjoyed my pearls so very, very much during these past few months. Wearing a different necklace and earrings every day. My goal is to make sure I use them ALL, so I work at it (otherwise just my favorites get worn). Today I'm wearing a diamond/pearl BIB necklace. These must have been popular in the 1970-80's, because I found a few of them during my searches. This one is definitely my favorite. I re-worked the strand (which originally held a strand of those cheap flat FW disks). Why would any jeweler put those cheap FW pearls with this gold/diamond/pearl center. Anyway, I found a lovely 5mm high-end Akoya strand and re-worked the necklace with better Akoya pearls and some 14K gold roundel beads to increase the length to 17". So much prettier now. I'm wearing this with my Akoya swirl 14KG/tiny diamond earrings. Everyone have a GREAT week.
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Oh my goodness, has it really been since last October since I posted a necklace...Yikes. I've missed you all.
Last November, my son-in-law, who has a congenital heart defect and is now in his early 30's, experienced a serious health episode while on vacation in Scotland. At home he drinks lots of caffeine and was also a "dipper" (tobacco in the bottom lip). Well those activities were apparently artificially pumping up his blood pressure, which is what allowed his bad valve congenital to continue so long untreated. When he was away from the caffeine and tobacco during his vacation, his BP plummeted and he wasn't sure he could make it home. They did, fortunately, but it was a REALLY scary plane ride for my daughter...checking to make sure he was still breathing the entire way across the Atlantic. Once they got home, they went right to the ER and it was determined he needed open heart surgery to replace his valve. The cardiologist told him to keep up the salt and caffeine until the surgery, also gave him a BP med to raise his BP. Fortunately, he was able to give up the tobacco during this time. After a month of light-headedness, anxiety and fear, he had his open heart surgery. The surgeon was able to find a human valve to install, which it totally cool, right! He is recovering well physically. His heart was greatly enlarged from years of over-work so now that the new valve is functioning better, the hope is that his heart will begin to "atrophy" and return to a more normal size. His greatest challenges have been emotional. He's been dealing with panic and PTSD fear. A therapist has prescribed anti-anxiety meds so he can sleep properly and heal. Things are finally going better. What a wild ride for my entire family. Thank the Lord he is on the right path toward recovery and is enjoying his beautiful 2-year old daughter and wife again, with less fear. Between this and the Christmas holidays, I just haven't been able to post anything.
I have, however, really enjoyed my pearls so very, very much during these past few months. Wearing a different necklace and earrings every day. My goal is to make sure I use them ALL, so I work at it (otherwise just my favorites get worn). Today I'm wearing a diamond/pearl BIB necklace. These must have been popular in the 1970-80's, because I found a few of them during my searches. This one is definitely my favorite. I re-worked the strand (which originally held a strand of those cheap flat FW disks). Why would any jeweler put those cheap FW pearls with this gold/diamond/pearl center. Anyway, I found a lovely 5mm high-end Akoya strand and re-worked the necklace with better Akoya pearls and some 14K gold roundel beads to increase the length to 17". So much prettier now. I'm wearing this with my Akoya swirl 14KG/tiny diamond earrings. Everyone have a GREAT week.View attachment 472909
You look lovely and I'm glad to hear that your family is on the mend.
 
Feeling "blue" today. Love these 6-7mm lumpy-bumpy high-luster baroque "akoya" rejects...they make such a beautiful statement. The clasp is 14K white gold with a tiny emerald in the middle. Don't you love the "whale tail" connection to the clasp where the strands connect. This type of connection provides a free-flowing design that allows the strands to move with you when it is worn. Unlike many of my other double or triple strands, this one never gets tangled because of this feature. With the textured finish to the gold and the square nature of the design, I'm sure this was a late 1960's-1970's mid-century modern design. I strung the extra pearls with tiny Swarovski bicone crystals and wear them with this strand when dressing up a plain high neck shirt. The tiny crystals I used on the other necklace can be seen in the earrings.
Happy Tuesday everyone.
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Love it! I good clasp really elevates pearls from a strand to a necklace.

Today I'm also in a blue mood. "Coral" earrings from Kojima, and "The Swan" from Pacific pearls in a setting by Okidanokh goldsmith. Unfortunately they moved away from Florida during Covid, so they're not near me anymore. When I bought "The Swan" I had no idea it was such a colorful pearl until it arrived. I was pleasantly surprised. The backside is equally gorgeous.

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When I bought "The Swan" I had no idea it was such a colorful pearl until it arrived. I was pleasantly surprised. The backside is equally gorgeous.
It's really beautiful. Would you be able to post a pic of the backside?
 
Sure. Here's the backside of The Swan, without and with the gold knit choker. The backside has a crease going down the middle.

The pearl is in a pressure setting, so if I decide to reset it, there are no drill holes or glue on it.

The markings are the Okidanokh hallmark, PD palladium, and 18K yellow gold. The diamonds on the front are left over from a ring the jeweler reset for me.

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OMG, they do look like jumping dolphins when the photos are blown up big like that. Now that you mention it, that right pearl looks a lot like my Sharkey carved pearl from Kamoka.

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My little 10-month old grandson just couldn't resist this purple pearl net/basket necklace. I finally had to take it off, because he just couldn't keep his hands off of it. What a cutie. I love swapping out the pearl to match my shirt.
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Welcome back MOPTrumpet; what a stressful time for your family. Hope for a quiet, peaceful and healthy recovery for the patient and all the caregivers :) Your net set is gorgeous ... watch out ... my grandson, now 17, is now wearing a pearl on leather cord 24/7 and eyeing up other of my pearls, but I love it and him ;)
 
@CathyKeshi, I LOVE that your 17 year old grandson is into pearls! How cool is that.
Thank you for the kind sentiments. My son-in-law is healing nicely and "getting back to normal". He's planted a garden and loves watching his flowers/vegetables grow in his back yard areas; sharing the experience with his 2+ year old daughter.
Today I was inspired to accent my blue jeans shirt with this triple strand Akoya creation. I found all 3 of these pearl strands at different times and decided to create a 3-strand with 3 completely different colors. This cream/silver/blue necklace goes so well with blue jeans and dusty blues. Amazing how all 3 strands fit together in varying lengths to make one necklace. I literally used every pearl and this is how it turned out! I feel like this triple strand works SO MUCH better than any one strand did alone. I found the triple clasp from an EBay-er in Rhode Island who purchased a warehouse of jewelry beads/findings and is parceling them off one at a time. It was a great deal and didn't break the bank so I felt I could splurge to give these strands a 14K gold triple clasp. The bottom strand is actually "iridescent blue" even though it appears more "silver purple" in this photo.
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