Trying to find replacement seed pearls for antique piece.

[gigi]

Hello All, I am trying to find .7mm to no more than 1mm undrilled seed pearls for replacement in an antique piece I have(Art Nouveau). So, color matching isn't too big of an issue nor is a perfect round, but size...that has been a headache. I find a lot of 1mm and up. I need around 15 to 20 pearls. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Unfortunately, I have had bad luck with purchases on Etsy. TIA!

 

[pattye]

Hi Gigi,

Here's a listing from WenPearls on etsy. Have you ordered from her before? A number of the women here have been happy with her offerings, and she is responsive to messages. I've only ordered a few inexpensive items myself, but they have been fine. Your Art Nouveau Piece sounds delightful.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/493006...ry=seed+pearls&ref=shop_items_search_70&crt=1

 

[BeadersSecret]

Hi gigi, check to see if they are half seed pearls - most sellers sell them full-round.

The half seed pearls can be harder to obtain.

 

[Parrot Lady]

I have bought 1mm seed Pearls from this company to replace missing pearls in antique jewelry. They even have half pearls which sometimes are a better fit.

https://www.jansjewells.com/category.php?category_id=76&page=g

 

[gigi]

Thank You, Ladies! I have included photos of the piece in question and another piece I need to have repaired. The pearls in the enamel watch are 2.0-2.3mm(large), 1.5-1.7mm(med), and 1mm for the smallest ones. All of which are half round and the larger are half-round and half drilled. The Slide is full round and set pearls which I will glue(gasp!) to replace. As you can see they are tiny pearls, I think 1mm would work but I would have to replace all of the pearls. @pattye I have not ordered from wenpearls and those look perfect. I did see them but after a couple of bad experiences with overseas purchases on Etsy, I really hesitate to purchase. @Bernadette This piece definitely needs full round but I totally agree with you on finding half rounds, it's not easy! @Parrot Lady I might use this shop for the half-round pearls for sure! Now, hopefully, I properly attached the photos.

 

[pattye]

Another thought, Wendy at Pearlescence.com also has undrilled seed pearls and is always accommodating and knowledgeable.
What delightful and extraordinary pieces; thank you for the photos! After the pearls are replaced, please retake the photos and share!
Do you replace each missing/ and reglue the other pearls?

 

[lisa c]

Your watch is going to polish up beautifully, what a piece! It’s stunning! Do you have the bow pin that the watch dangles from? I accidentally left mine behind, and also one of the hands

In order to not assault mine I did start-up cleaning with a wood toothpick around the pearls (no polish) then a silver cloth for the rest. I can’t wait to see yours!

(It still needs work)

 

[pattye]

Oh, that's a beauty, Lisa!

 

[lisa c]

Thanks Pattye, it was my great-grandmother’s. I’ve loved it since I was a baby, used to sneak into my Mom’s jewel box to gaze at it. I got caught once and stuffed it into her sheets. She started making the bed, snapped the sheets and out flipped the watch, to my horror. Picture a slow motion tumble through the air, noooooo. I was a toddler so she didn’t get all crazy, but I was so horrified I became insufferably law-abiding. One less outlaw-child to cause mayhem o

its going to be a treat to see gigi’s all shined up, can you imagine the silver all polished around the coral enamel? And the pearls! What a gorgeous watch. These watches give me shivers, they’re so beautiful!

 

[lisa c]

Gigi, does your watch work? (Mine doesn’t) Can we see the face?

 

[gigi]

Lisa, Wow that is a gorgeous watch, and what a great story that goes along with it. I have to agree with you though, they are my happy place! Honestly, I have a thing for guilloche in general, but really love the "ladies" watches the most. I have several women's watches(I find they aren't as collectible as the men's and less expensive), but only 4 guilloche ones. This one is the most ornate one that I have, there are also pearls on the front of the watch, and it's unusual to see two colors on these pieces and a shell motif. Unfortunately, it needs a lot of work and not quite sure I can repair some of the issues. I bought it in a huge bagged lot of "costume" jewelry for $35, but I don't think they realized it wasn't fake rather very old pieces. So, I don't have a matching chain or a pin for it, though I do have non-matching. I am always on the lookout for the guilloche link chains.
Pattye, I am a see what you are in for then make a plan. LOL These look like a burnished setting and I am afraid I might break the pearls, or worse really damage it just to get them out of the setting to glue as I have no access to the back of the piece. I will definitely post pictures once I get it repaired. I really love the piece. I am thinking about pairing it with a multistrand seed pearl necklace.

 

[gigi]

No problem, here it is.

 

[gigi]

Mine doesn't work, but I have had good luck with a watchmaker in PA that does excellent repairs on antique watches. They are unbelievably slow though.

 

[lisa c]

Are you in PA, too? My Mom was going to get mine fixed in Fl, but she got sick and that took precedence, we forgot. Do you have recommendations in PA?

Do you think your watch is a man’s? Were pearls a feature for women only? I’ve not done any reading on these. I have to start with What is guilloche, then go from there. This is fun.

 

[KarinK]

Now I want to collect women's watches...

 

[gigi]

Lisa, I am not in PA but Texas now. However, I lived in NJ for many years and my brother and his family live in Carlisle, PA. The watchmaker and his son are "old school" watchmakers/repairs and though they take at minimum 2 months to repair movements and minor cosmetic repairs they are upfront about the timeline. On really unique pieces it can take much longer to find appropriate parts. It's called Old Time Watch and Clocks in Allentown, PA. The photo's are of some of my watches. IMHO, I think smaller and more ornate watches were used more by women, but size depended on era is important to remember. Then older the watch the bigger because the movements evolve to be smaller and smaller over time. Guilloche is basically a transparent enamel over an engine-turned engraved pattern(I have even seen spiderweb patterns), whereas enamel can be transparent or opaque but there is no patterning under. Faberge is probably most famous for his work, but there are several excellent Scandinavian makers as well. If you look at your watch there is examples of both the body is guilloche and the dial face is white enamel. The really neat thing is both are basically melted ground-up glass.

Karin, Yes, it can be addictive.

 

[lisa c]

Wow, thank you for the information! I was going to look it up myself and I thank you for the start! Oh my, and the pictures - what a treat!!!! I did wonder at the beauty and precision of the repeated pattern. I was going to credit people with super-human talents!


Are you doing ok in Texas? I guess there’s a horrible disaster always somewhere on the globe, like the fires in CA.

I know, Karin! I’m an inveterate collector. I’m controlling myself - my Rule is going to be Fix what I’ve got first. I just like owning beautiful things.

 

[BWeaves]

OOOO< I love pocket watches. What a great collection.

 

[gigi]

Lisa, Thank You. We are fine, just passing thunderstorms yesterday. BWeaves, Thank You. I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to watches. They are all working except for the green guilloche one. The large gold hunter is probably the oldest and has a key to wind it. The most unusual is the small ball which is hallmarked Rhodium/Platinum Metal and my jeweler said it was a very strange way of marking platinum as rhodium is not a workable metal and far too expensive. My favorite and one I wear often is the silver on a chain.

 

[linda.wald]

Lovely pieces, gigi, lisa c! I love enamel. I have an art deco enamel watch, which is lots of fun, but on a long chain it's hard to wear -- it keeps banging into things. The locket I think has faux pearls, and the lace pin real ones.