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What are you wearing today? Pearl edition!

Daisys and Diamonds

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Apr 30, 2019
Messages
22,510
Here’s s my very humble Tahitian necklace.
I do have some old pearl jewelry from my mother and grandmother, rings, necklaces, a couple bracelets….After seeing all your beautiful pearl photos, I am inspired to
wear more pearls….and, purchase a few more
E587EC09-9E95-4AD8-AA67-9F25EAA5607E.jpeg
how wonderful
pearls do like to be worn
:kiss2:
:kiss2: :kiss2: :kiss2: :kiss2: :kiss2: :kiss2: :kiss2: :kiss2: :kiss2: :kiss2: :kiss2:
also i love that brooch (details please :lol-2: )
 

BleuRoc

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 21, 2013
Messages
32
how wonderful
pearls do like to be worn
:kiss2:
:kiss2: :kiss2: :kiss2: :kiss2: :kiss2: :kiss2: :kiss2: :kiss2: :kiss2: :kiss2: i:kiss2:
also i love that brooch (details please :lol-2: )
Hi Daisys and Diamonds!
The pearl and jade brooch is a “Mings” piece. My grandmother and mother both had one each so I currently have two. ;)2
I also have two pearl brooches that are the same style (again, Grandmother & Mother) from Mings.
Those “Funny Ladies”! :lol-2:
 

Gabor

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 29, 2022
Messages
38
Guess what I just got!?!? Finally!! After two full years searching!!!! :appl: :love: :appl:

And it’s brand new!!!! :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

D6FD2AFD-3EC3-4E4B-9CD8-E602C698B99C.jpeg

EA3F48FA-2A71-4AF5-8429-DC08C949B90F.jpeg

4958F992-260F-4DDB-BC70-FEC82588451A.jpeg

96682190-01A2-435C-AB3A-F9DE13D37D2D.jpeg

@yssie Must be an awesome book. Would love to have it myself, where did you order it from? I did a quick search and it is only available in German, but yours is an English edition :)
 

yssie

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 14, 2009
Messages
27,242
@yssie Must be an awesome book. Would love to have it myself, where did you order it from? I did a quick search and it is only available in German, but yours is an English edition :)

I was just this side of drooling :bigsmile: I’m about halfway through. It’s so informative. A little science, a little story. It feels like I’m finally reading the “textbook”.

https://www.goldschmiedebedarf.de/product_info.php?products_id=23865
They’ll send you an offer by email a couple days after you submit your purchase request, and you can pay with PayPal. The shipping is the pricey part, but my total was still very reasonable (~100 euro) and even moreso considering the absolute impossibility of finding this thing!
 

Gabor

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 29, 2022
Messages
38
I was just this side of drooling :bigsmile: I’m about halfway through. It’s so informative. A little science, a little story. It feels like I’m finally reading the “textbook”.

https://www.goldschmiedebedarf.de/product_info.php?products_id=23865
They’ll send you an offer by email a couple days after you submit your purchase request, and you can pay with PayPal. The shipping is the pricey part, but my total was still very reasonable (~100 euro) and even moreso considering the absolute impossibility of finding this thing!

Thank you!! I'm very excited to order this book! It's funny how shipping often costs more than the book when ordered from overseas, I've done that before. I can't wait to get it, the more I learn about pearls, the more I want to know. I'll hunt down The Necklace as well. Love coffee table books myself, I have a whole collection of art books that I stack around the house, and now it's on to pearls..:)
 

yssie

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 14, 2009
Messages
27,242
We should start a thread somewhere for bling coffee table books!! I love them too :bigsmile:
 

yssie

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 14, 2009
Messages
27,242
@diamondyes My preloved thread was closed but wanted to follow up!

So when I string I like to only have one strand end to finish - once is painful enough, who wants to deal with finishing a strand on both ends!? I also like to have as much of the drill hole “filled up” with thread as possible - I try to use enough thread that there’s juuuust enough space to double back through the end pearls. (These days I ream the end pearls out a bit, too, but can’t do that with other materials).

But… With the drill holes almost full with thread… The doubling back to finish the strand was a complete PITA every time. Couldn’t ever get that needle *back* through a nearly-filled, knotted-on-one-side pearl to actually double back - I broke so many strands right at the end. So I’ve actually started using beading needles to avoid having to re-thread those end pearls at all.

No idea if this is helpful but here’s what I do! There's a million billion ways. This is just what I've found works for me. I’m also kinda savage on needles so ignore the not-straight-ness :lol:


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And then glue, and then cut the tails off. I don't bother knotting the tails again, just makes those knots look huge and the tails are going to get cut off right there so any knots couldn't be load-bearing anyway.


I restrung that coral strand that I just rehomed for the new owner last night - cut the tails off at the pink arrows -

CORAL_RESTRING_1.jpg

CORAL_RESTRING_2.jpg

CORAL_RESTRING_3.jpg
 
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diamondyes

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Oct 16, 2020
Messages
1,689
@diamondyes My preloved thread was closed but wanted to follow up!

So when I string I like to only have one strand end to finish - once is painful enough, who wants to deal with finishing a strand on both ends!? I also like to have as much of the drill hole “filled up” with thread as possible - I try to use enough thread that there’s juuuust enough space to double back through the end pearls. (These days I ream the end pearls out a bit, too, but can’t do that with other materials).

But… With the drill holes almost full with thread… The doubling back to finish the strand was a complete PITA every time. Couldn’t ever get that needle *back* through a nearly-filled, knotted-on-one-side pearl to actually double back - I broke so many strands right at the end. So I’ve actually started using beading needles to avoid having to re-thread those end pearls at all.

No idea if this is helpful but here’s what I do! There's a million billion ways. This is just what I've found works for me. I’m also kinda savage on needles so ignore the not-straight-ness :lol:


1.jpg

2.jpg

3.jpg

4.jpg

5.jpg

6.jpg

7.jpg

8.jpg

9.jpg

10.jpg

11.jpg

And then glue, and then cut the tails off. I don't bother knotting the tails again, just makes those knots look huge and the tails are going to get cut off right there so any knots couldn't be load-bearing anyway.


I restrung that coral strand that I just rehomed for the new owner last night - cut the tails off at the pink arrows -

CORAL_RESTRING_1.jpg

CORAL_RESTRING_2.jpg

CORAL_RESTRING_3.jpg

Wow your knots are so invisible compared to mine!! Thank you for this! I’m going to pour over it and give it a go. What kind of glue do you use?
 

yssie

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 14, 2009
Messages
27,242
@yssie this was my first attempt I mentioned. Double knotted, no glue. Was scared to cut too short. 6B4998C7-50D7-4096-9E74-6C182B4B5285.jpeg

Your knots through the rest of it are super neat!!

Yeah, the nice thing about doubling the thread back is when you get to this point (however you get there LOL) the load-bearing knot is in the middle, circled, so you can cut the tails as close to beads as you want and not worry about the knot coming undone. In theory I would really only need glue on the knot circled, but in practice I glue at all three arrows - and cut the tails off once the glue dries. (Cuticle cutters are handy to get in really tight!)

472AD43D-C134-4ABB-ADB2-220583A91B2C.jpeg

I use either this stuff or epoxy - whichever I’ve got on hand. Doesn’t seem to make any difference.
GS Supplies G-S Hypo Cement, Transparent https://a.co/d/7ggIC3o

It seriously took me probably hundreds of tries to get my knots even along the rest of the strand as neat as yours. Forget finishing. But I sort of had to learn, the local jewellers string horribly and shipping things out was getting so insanely expensive. Such a relief to be able to just take care of #whatever myself now. I can’t say I enjoy it though, I’m definitely not the sort who finds beading relaxing or meditative :lol:
 
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diamondyes

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Oct 16, 2020
Messages
1,689
Your knots through the rest of it are super neat!!

Yeah, the nice thing about doubling the thread back is when you get to this point (however you get there LOL) the load-bearing knot is in the middle, circled, so you can cut the tails as close to beads as you want and not worry about the knot coming undone. In theory I would really only need glue on the knot circled, but in practice I glue at all three arrows - and cut the tails off once the glue dries. (Cuticle cutters are handy to get in really tight!)

472AD43D-C134-4ABB-ADB2-220583A91B2C.jpeg

I use either this stuff or epoxy - whichever I’ve got on hand. Doesn’t seem to make any difference.
GS Supplies G-S Hypo Cement, Transparent https://a.co/d/7ggIC3o

It seriously took me probably hundreds of tries to get my knots even along the rest of the strand as neat as yours. Forget finishing. But I sort of had to learn, the local jewellers string horribly and shipping things out was getting so insanely expensive. Such a relief to be able to just take care of #whatever myself now. I can’t say I enjoy it though, I’m definitely not the sort who finds beading relaxing or meditative :lol:

Thank you for all of this info! My local jewellers do not need up to my impossible standards, and I’m in Canada so I’m definitely not shopping everything to that one lady in the US who does a good job… I’ll figure this out eventually. Your pro tips are very very appreciated.
 

LilAlex

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Mar 3, 2018
Messages
3,589
I just got the offer today...replied, and hopefully tomorrow they'll send me the link to pay. Hang in there...

Just came by to say that my copy is shipping! I don't 100% know what I bought but if @yssie has been looking for it for years and it is < $100 (can there possibly be anything else in this Venn diagram intersection?), it's a can't-miss, right? =)2

And: since I blundered into the (post-book) stringing part of this thread, @yssie does an amazing job of stringing -- we have one of her "B" strand bracelet hand-me-downs with teal thread and spouse just loves it!
 

Gabor

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 29, 2022
Messages
38
This is the best book club

Just came by to say that my copy is shipping! I don't 100% know what I bought but if @yssie has been looking for it for years and it is < $100 (can there possibly be anything else in this Venn diagram intersection?), it's a can't-miss, right? =)2

And: since I blundered into the (post-book) stringing part of this thread, @yssie does an amazing job of stringing -- we have one of her "B" strand bracelet hand-me-downs with teal thread and spouse just loves it!

Glad to hear that! I received the book in my hands on Monday, very happy for it!! Cannot wait to have time to read it, at first glance is a cover-all-encyclopedia on all kinds of pearls, history, science, pearl geography, culturing and grading, well, everything really there is to know about pearls all in one book. I think every pearl lover should have this book. Very grateful to @yssie to have sourced this gem of a book!!:kiss2:
 

yssie

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 14, 2009
Messages
27,242
I’m so glad other people are/will enjoy it too!! I was so excited to find it and I’m totally chuffed to have people to share it with :bigsmile:
 
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Rhd3

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Dec 7, 2019
Messages
218
I was just this side of drooling :bigsmile: I’m about halfway through. It’s so informative. A little science, a little story. It feels like I’m finally reading the “textbook”.

https://www.goldschmiedebedarf.de/product_info.php?products_id=23865
They’ll send you an offer by email a couple days after you submit your purchase request, and you can pay with PayPal. The shipping is the pricey part, but my total was still very reasonable (~100 euro) and even moreso considering the absolute impossibility of finding this thing!
Thanks for posting this link. You made my day! I completely gave up trying to find this book.
 

LilAlex

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Mar 3, 2018
Messages
3,589
I’m so glad other people are/will enjoy it too!! I was so excited to find it and I’m totally chuffed to have people to share it with

Just received it and it's awesome. Only slightly less erudite than some of @yssie's more esoteric threads.

It's a lovely book -- almost more of a textbook than a coffee-table book. Seems to have a section on any and every critter that's ever made a pearl!
 

diamondyes

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Oct 16, 2020
Messages
1,689
@diamondyes My preloved thread was closed but wanted to follow up!

So when I string I like to only have one strand end to finish - once is painful enough, who wants to deal with finishing a strand on both ends!? I also like to have as much of the drill hole “filled up” with thread as possible - I try to use enough thread that there’s juuuust enough space to double back through the end pearls. (These days I ream the end pearls out a bit, too, but can’t do that with other materials).

But… With the drill holes almost full with thread… The doubling back to finish the strand was a complete PITA every time. Couldn’t ever get that needle *back* through a nearly-filled, knotted-on-one-side pearl to actually double back - I broke so many strands right at the end. So I’ve actually started using beading needles to avoid having to re-thread those end pearls at all.

No idea if this is helpful but here’s what I do! There's a million billion ways. This is just what I've found works for me. I’m also kinda savage on needles so ignore the not-straight-ness :lol:


1.jpg

2.jpg

3.jpg

4.jpg

5.jpg

6.jpg

7.jpg

8.jpg

9.jpg

10.jpg

11.jpg

And then glue, and then cut the tails off. I don't bother knotting the tails again, just makes those knots look huge and the tails are going to get cut off right there so any knots couldn't be load-bearing anyway.


I restrung that coral strand that I just rehomed for the new owner last night - cut the tails off at the pink arrows -

CORAL_RESTRING_1.jpg

CORAL_RESTRING_2.jpg

CORAL_RESTRING_3.jpg

I just re-read this. Do you always use four strands of thread? I’ve been using mine doubled up but not quadrupled… is that ok?

I’m going to try this tonight. Thank you again for taking the time to share these instructions! On the pearl forum and YouTube I find the limitless options to be quite overwhelming.
 
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