Pearls for a girl living in European Union

[InLoveWithPearls]

Wendy, you have a point there. I already have a pair of pearl dangles, which I inherited. But they are in silver, and I'm a bit allergic. Not so that my ears turn into tomatoes, but the skin gets itchy and irritated. And the pearls look rather tired. But I've used them sometimes anyhow and love the style. I also have a bunch of other dangles, all non-pearly, unfortunatelly.... (I actually do have a stationary with five small pearls... you see, I'm hooked up already!)

At the moment I'm thinking of having these: http://edelkontor.de/online-shop-fuer-perlenschmuck-1-1.html
(Things change quickly over here...)

A bit worried about the lock; it doesn't look all that safe to me.

Should I be worried about the size (is there a risk that the quality would be less good)? I mean, isn't 8-9 mm a bit large for freshwater pearls?

 

[KarinK]

They look very safe to me - but then I have my most expensive earrings on french wire without any kind of security Haven't lost one yet, though.

- Karin

 

[InLoveWithPearls]

Brave! I actually lost of one my inherited one's in snow one Swedish winter! I found it though. Not without difficulties.....

 

[pearlescence]

No, 8-9mm is about standard these days. It is what I supply most of - or larger

 

[Amanda]

Wendy, you have a point there. I already have a pair of pearl dangles, which I inherited. But they are in silver, and I'm a bit allergic. Not so that my ears turn into tomatoes, but the skin gets itchy and irritated.

Are you sure it's actually silver you are allergic to? Very few people are, it's not much of an allergen.

It's more likely you're allergic to whatever else was mixed in with the silver - sterling silver is 92.5% silver, and the rest is other metals (pure silver is very, very soft).

There are more rules, now, in the UK and the EU as a whole about what can be mixed with silver. Nickel is not allowed for example - it's irritating for lots of people.

 

[pearlescence]

Very good point Amanda...With nickel banned from the EU I forgot that...were the other earrings from America where they still use nickel?

 

[Amanda]

Wendy - she said, "inherited", so they could be quite old silver from the EU, as well as foreign.

 

[pearlescence]

ah-ha..missed that. then it could well have nickel in it from before the ban.

 

[InLoveWithPearls]

The old silver earrings are at least 50 years old, I think. I would guess they are either European or maybe from Turkey/Middle East.

It feels very good to have the competence of the Forum to rely on and consult. Thank you!

 

[pearlescence]

at least 50 years old..then certainly well before the nickel ban*. It's likely that the silver was mixed with nickel and it is the nickel which causes you problems..have you tried any new silver from inside the EU (as I said, american silver stlll has nickel - also added to vermeil as a layer between the silver and gold)

*also banned from bra wires and anything which might come into contact with skin

 

[InLoveWithPearls]

Dear Pearl Guides,

I finally decided on a pair of fresh water pearls, which I ordered through a goldsmith in Stockholm. I was a chicken and thought it would be better to see them first. Well...

The pearls I first bought were 9,5 mm wide, elongated, on a hook. I bought them in white gold, got home, realized all other jewelry I have is in yellow and red gold, got back and exchanged for a pair in red gold. Then I waited two weeks for my little beauties to come to me. A pair of even larger pearls, 10,5 mm wide, arrived. I checked them, or I thought I did, got home and was one happy girl for a few days. That was last Friday. Yesterday I examined them while sitting outside in the sun. And imagine my horror as I realized that both pearls have small damages around the holes where they are attached to the hooks!!! *Aaaaaah!* No wonder I got bigger pearls than I payed for...

I have tried to take a photo of the damage for you, but it's really impossible for me to get a sharp image. And even when I get a sharp image, you can not see the damages as well as with the eye. But I assure you, in the sun light, the damages is fully visible. How to describe it? I would guess that, as they were drilling for the hole, small chips fell off arond the hole. The pearls are missing some of the layers, no more then a few milimeters long. The area feels smooth enough, but I have no idea if they have applied some sort of smothing magic to it...?

Now. This is not really an aesthetic problem. Nobody will be able to see the damages when I wear them. But I guess it affects the value? And even more important -- will it affect how the pearls are aging?

What would you recommend that I do? Am I too picky if I go back and demand a new pair? Or is fully normal that small damages can arise around the holes??

/A sad little Pearl Girl

 

[Amrita]

Hi! Are you going to post the pictures that you took so that people here can have a look....and then comment..

 

[dmj]

heyhey

its bad i was super late reading this message i travel to sweden every year and i was there last week for a birthday party anyway most pearls are being drilled on a bad spot so a little bad spot on the pearl etc because 99.9 % of the pearls are not perfect so there is always something there

also when drilling a pearl some people don't have the right tools or go to fast and they can make a little damage around the hole

also there are lotttttts of pearls with patches on them small spots that don't look nice etc this is also the spot where they will drill them so they can sell the pearl for a higher price

for pearls bought at a local jeweller in europe this is normal for pearls bought from euro brands like schoeffel etc this is unacceptable

for the aging of the pearl if he bad spot is getting bigger something is deff wrong with your pearl i had some chinese freshwaters that came back after 3 months looking like they where completely peeled one time ( a honest jeweller returns the costumers money ) so thats what i did. this was the only time that happen to me so maybe something was wrong with the pearl maybe the costumer took a acid shower i don't know

if you can see if somebody around you has a micro stand on his camera you will probable be able to take a picture so we can see what it is because with not seeing it its very hard to tell

next time your buying a pearl your also more than welcome to send me a message i have pieces laying in denmark so i think it will not take long for them to reach sweden and i visit sweden every now and then

 

[pearlescence]

It sounds as if the pearls may have been drilled with a slightly blunted drill and/or not at a fast enough speed/power. It does happen sometimes that a little ring of nacre lifts off from around the drill hole as a consequence of the drilling operation.
A wise seller would then have selected a metal finding or fitting which would have covered this.
Without seeing the pearls in person it is hard to advise if you have grounds for returning them to the bricks and morter shop where you bought them. The value may have been affected a little, but then you have larger pearls than you paid for, so that balances out. They will not wear any faster. Pearls don't (generally) wear. Especially earrings which very seldom show damage from wear (bad storage yes, wear no)
The problem with bricks and morter jewellery shops is, generally, that they have little knowledge or experience of pearls which are so different to any other precious or semi precious gemstone. That is also probably why you had to wait two weeks - they had to get some in yellow gold into stock

 

[InLoveWithPearls]

Thank you, all. This will be a lesson for me...

I attach a few images for you. You can view them on my side here at Pearl Guide forum. It's the only album I have.

Particularly on IMG 19 and 20 you should be able to see the damages. These are 7 out of around 50 images I took, and I really can't get them any better.

A general view:

In nr 19, you'll see a long chip missing (direction to the left, slightly down to the left) from the hole:

In nr 20, the round circles around the hole:

Should I try exchanging them...?

 

[InLoveWithPearls]

A few more pics:

 

[pearlescence]

The pearls are damaged. As I said, the jeweller could have used a fitting with a cover and you would never have knows!
like this http://www.pearlescence.co.uk/product_info.php/cPath/192_28_138/products_id/3277
Whether you take them back or not is up to you

 

[dmj]

can i ask what you paid for them ?

because it took them two weeks to arrive they just ordered new ones with a red hook so they don't make them themselves so i guess you paid around 140 euro for them ?

 

[pearlescence]

It's just a bit of bent and shaped gold wire glued into the hole, not a very sophisticated finding is it?

 

[dmj]

i do like these sometimes where there is something like a huge baroque under it etc besides that i think with a little diamond above the pearl always makes them a little better so there was actually work in making them

like the model where this thread started with also very easy but very classical and always good with the little diamond i make that model once every week i think