Help from the experts? Repurposing glued pearls

[yssie]

Hello all!

Thought I'd ask here before bothering a vendor.

I have pearls that have been half drilled and set as earrings or pendants (so - head pins & eye pins with glue). I'd like to have them unset, full-drilled, and strung.

Is this something that is generally doable?
What are notable exceptions or gotchas?
Is there anything specific I should ask about?

The pearls range in type and value. There are some (Sea of Cortez) that I most definitely would not want to damage.

FWIW I would be speaking with Hisano about this. Ideally I'd just send the SoCs back to the farm - but I'd really much rather not ship internationally, and I've had dreadful shipping experiences with MX in particular

I would appreciate any advice!

 

[yssie]

Well, I talked to Fernando from Cortez and removing findings from SoC pearls is a "don't even think about it" so that answers that!

Still wondering about freshies and akoyas?
Does okay-ness of doing this depend on pearl variety, or mostly just how much risk you're willing to take re. destroying the pearl?

 

[pearlsngems]

I'm surprised you have been discouraged from removing findings as there is a solvent that dissolves the glue, for the purpose of removing findings! It's called Attack. Sold on Amazon. I've used it. It works.
https://www.amazon.com/Attack-Solve...X3KG3QQ5EGTNV98YPT&qid=1568412619&s=hi&sr=1-1

Maybe Fernando was just concerned you'd botch it?

Or maybe the finding covers a blemish or defect in the pearl that would be exposed once the finding was removed. Let's say a pointy tip was filed down to fit the finding. The pearl might not look good enough to string after the finding was removed.

 

[ennui]

I'm late to the party, but I'm wondering why you'd want to do this.
Generally, the best pearls are selected for earrings and pendants, and it seems like a step backward to put them in a strand.
Half the fun is buying new pearls to match the pieces you already own (imho).

 

[yssie]

Thanks for bumping this thread - I mean the to respond, then work got in the way and I never got back to it

@pearlsngems Fernando indicated that Manuel was concerned about cracking and crazing. I did reach out to Hisano, who said the likelihood of problems is very small - but it’s not zero... So I’ve decided to just leave them be for now. They’re too pretty to risk!

@ennui That’s very true and exactly why I haven’t been buying pre-strung strands! I don’t have many pearls, and I don’t wear necklaces of any sort, only bracelets. I want the bracelets I do have to feature earrings-worthy pearls - and the only way to get that is to buy pearls individually, so that’s what I’ve been doing

 

[MMtwo]

Thanks for bumping this thread - I mean the to respond, then work got in the way and I never got back to it

@pearlsngems Fernando indicated that Manuel was concerned about cracking and crazing. I did reach out to Hisano, who said the likelihood of problems is very small - but it’s not zero... So I’ve decided to just leave them be for now. They’re too pretty to risk!

@ennui That’s very true and exactly why I haven’t been buying pre-strung strands! I don’t have many pearls, and I don’t wear necklaces of any sort, only bracelets. I want the bracelets I do have to feature earrings-worthy pearls - and the only way to get that is to buy pearls individually, so that’s what I’ve been doing

I bought and made a pearl peice or two. It is my understanding that there is a drill specially made to drill the pearls. You would probably need to seek out a vendor to drill for you. When I had some pearls custom drilled, I needed to know the hole size - so be prepared for that. I had a local jewelry shop drill a hole for a finding in a Tahitian and it was a serious cuss job without that specialized drill.

Some vendors do make pearl bracelets that have that level of quality with a special order.

 

[Pearlescence]

Any vendor worth buying from will be able to put together such a bracelet - and be able to drill the pearls. If they can't then consider going elsewhere