Why are pearls knotted?

[geckodani]

Okay. Enlighten me. Why are pearls knotted? Is it to keep them from knocking against each other? Are necklaces ever strung without the knots?

Would I be a bad girl if I wore an unknotted strand I picked up wholesale at a Gem show?

 

[Miscka]

Hi gecko.

I may be wrong, but it is to protect the pearls. Especially akoyas, I would imagine, as they have thinner nacre than FWs and lower quality ones (or older ones) can wear thin. Again, I may be making this up. But, pearls are really delicate little guys, so I would always want mine knotted!

Usually that is a sign of real vs. fake...knots between or no knots between.

Unknot all you want! Just be careful. Why are you opposed to the knots, may I ask?

You can always have them restrung later, if you change your mind.

 

[geckodani]

Hee hee - I'm not opposed at all, I just lack the dexterity, and tend to fondle the strands at gem shows, but never buy them because I don't know how to knot them, LOL!

I'd love to just throw them on - I almost bought a 60" strand of freshwater pearls last year for something like $20, but wasn't sure if I could wear them without knotting them.

ETA: Also just genuinely curious.

 

[DiaDiva]

Gecko, the reason for knotting is safety and preservation. When any bead or pearl are strung without knotting, they are not really secure. A strand can break for any number of reasons, and when that happens, it is difficult if not impossible to track down all of the scattered jewels! When a cord is knotted, the only thing lost will be one pearl or a clasp, at most. The rest will stay intact.

When one of my long FW knotted strands broke, that was exactly what happened so thank goodness for the knots.

ETA: you can wear the necklaces without the knots but you do run the risk of losing pearls if the necklace should break. I do have some that are not knotted (bought in my more ignorant days) and they are fine.

 

[jmtomaui]

I''m not sure there is a definitive answer to this...

I too used to believe that knotting was the sign of the difference between real and fake but Mikimotos are not knotted after the first couple of pearls next to the clasp. The rest are not knotted. I think I have heard it said that not knotting is the eastern way of stringing pearls.

Yes, many do agree / believe that knotting does protect the nacre of the pearls from rubbing together and weakening the pearl. What is agreed on is that knotting between pearls can save us from "disaster" if the strand breaks as the pearls will not go spilling all over and risk being lost.

From a personal point of view, I like the way the pearls lay when I knot between them. For some reason, they form to my neck more when knotted as there seems to be more fluidity to a knotted strand.

Gecko, many people wear strands of pearls that are not knotted so don''t let that stop you! If you see something you like - go for it! Life is too short to not buy and wear what we want! You would only be a bad girl if you worried about what others thought if you simply threw on a strand of pearls without having them knotted! Go for it!

If you are concerned about it breaking, there are probably bead shops that would knot them for you for very little money. Heck, if there was a way to work it out - I''d do it for you for free just because I love to do it - it is relaxing for me!

 

[Miscka]

Ha. I like her answer much better than mine

I don''t think having them strung is really expensive, FWIW.

I read your post as "would it be bad if I UNKNOTTED a strand" and I was like....why would you do that? Seems like work! LOL I should read more closely.

 

[brightlight]

Date: 8/14/2009 2:37:28 PM
Author:geckodani
Okay. Enlighten me. Why are pearls knotted? Is it to keep them from knocking against each other? Are necklaces ever strung without the knots?

Would I be a bad girl if I wore an unknotted strand I picked up wholesale at a Gem show?

It''s to keep them from rubbing against each other and to keep all of them from spilling on the floor should the string break. This happened to me recently in a hotel. Sometimes, if I''m lazy and I know I''m going to restring the pearls into a different necklace, I don''t knot. Shhhhhhhhh, don''t tell anyone.

 

[geckodani]

Thanks for the answers everyone!

Miscka - I certainly wouldn't unknot an already knotted strand, LOL!

DiaDiva - Hmm - good point on pearls spilling across the floor. For the kind of prices I'll probably be looking at, it wouldn't be the end of the world though.

jmtomaui - Thank you for the informative answer!

There were other reasons for me not buying a strand last year. I had exactly $50 in my pocket and the pearls were one of the first things I saw. I ended up getting a few other lovely things instead, but plan on perhaps purchasing some pearls this Sept at the next show. I actually prefer the look of unknotted pearls, but wondered if there was a good reason to avoid them.

The thought of trying to knot all those pearls... I'm glad there are people like you that find it relaxing. I imagine it would be much like the one time I tried to knit... talk about a frustrating experience.

 

[geckodani]

Date: 8/14/2009 3:37:05 PM
Author: brightlight

Date: 8/14/2009 2:37:28 PM
Author:geckodani
Okay. Enlighten me. Why are pearls knotted? Is it to keep them from knocking against each other? Are necklaces ever strung without the knots?

Would I be a bad girl if I wore an unknotted strand I picked up wholesale at a Gem show?

It''s to keep them from rubbing against each other and to keep all of them from spilling on the floor should the string break. This happened to me recently in a hotel. Sometimes, if I''m lazy and I know I''m going to restring the pearls into a different necklace, I don''t knot. Shhhhhhhhh, don''t tell anyone.

Hee hee.

 

[jmtomaui]

Gecko, another thought for you would be to restring them on 49 gauge wire. The wire is very flexible but much less likely to break / snap like thread can.

Or, rather than leave them on the cotton or silk string they usually come on, you could restring them on an extremely strong thread such as PowerPro fishing line. It is braided very fine like silk is but get a 20 - 30 pound test, double it and thread the pearls on without knotting. It would take the strength of a 40 - 60 pound pull to break the string...

 

[kas baby]

Date: 8/14/2009 8:30:20 PM
Author: jmtomaui
Gecko, another thought for you would be to restring them on 49 gauge wire. The wire is very flexible but much less likely to break / snap like thread can.

Or, rather than leave them on the cotton or silk string they usually come on, you could restring them on an extremely strong thread such as PowerPro fishing line. It is braided very fine like silk is but get a 20 - 30 pound test, double it and thread the pearls on without knotting. It would take the strength of a 40 - 60 pound pull to break the string...

lol... all I can think about is when FI and I went to a sporting goods store to pick up PowerPro and the SA there made the funniest face and said "yeah, it would take some crazy guy to snap this line!" and imitated someone trying to pull it off, HA!

its not hard to knot. what is hard is knotting nicely. making the spacing even and getting it close to the pearls... it really is an art

 

[geckodani]

Date: 8/14/2009 8:30:20 PM
Author: jmtomaui
Gecko, another thought for you would be to restring them on 49 gauge wire. The wire is very flexible but much less likely to break / snap like thread can.

Or, rather than leave them on the cotton or silk string they usually come on, you could restring them on an extremely strong thread such as PowerPro fishing line. It is braided very fine like silk is but get a 20 - 30 pound test, double it and thread the pearls on without knotting. It would take the strength of a 40 - 60 pound pull to break the string...

This is probably the best option for my lack of manual dexterity.

Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[geckodani]

Date: 8/18/2009 1:05:52 PM
Author: kas baby

lol... all I can think about is when FI and I went to a sporting goods store to pick up PowerPro and the SA there made the funniest face and said ''yeah, it would take some crazy guy to snap this line!'' and imitated someone trying to pull it off, HA!

its not hard to knot. what is hard is knotting nicely. making the spacing even and getting it close to the pearls... it really is an art

One that I think I will leave to the pros!

 

[MishB]

Date: 8/14/2009 3:13:48 PM
Author: jmtomaui

I too used to believe that knotting was the sign of the difference between real and fake but Mikimotos are not knotted after the first couple of pearls next to the clasp. The rest are not knotted. I think I have heard it said that not knotting is the eastern way of stringing pearls.

jmtomaui, I have a string of vintage mikimotos (an inheritance), I have no reason to believe they aren''t genuine. I''ve recently had them cleaned and restrung but they were definitely knotted before. I guess they were restrung and knotted sometime in the past?

 

[jmtomaui]

Date: 8/23/2009 8:57:20 AM
Author: MishB

Date: 8/14/2009 3:13:48 PM
Author: jmtomaui

I too used to believe that knotting was the sign of the difference between real and fake but Mikimotos are not knotted after the first couple of pearls next to the clasp. The rest are not knotted. I think I have heard it said that not knotting is the eastern way of stringing pearls.

jmtomaui, I have a string of vintage mikimotos (an inheritance), I have no reason to believe they aren''t genuine. I''ve recently had them cleaned and restrung but they were definitely knotted before. I guess they were restrung and knotted sometime in the past?

MishB, I could be wrong about the Mikimotos... I read that on a pearl forum that I belong to and since I have not done any research for myself, I may have misspoken! Or I may have misunderstood what I was reading... I sure don''t want you to doubt what you have!

There is a poster here - I believe named Streeter (?) that has a great deal of knowledge on pearls. Maybe they can weigh in on the Mikimotos?

I hope I have not caused you any concern! It would not be the first time in my life that I was wrong?!?!?

 

[Pandora II]

I have two strands of vintage Mikimotos - both are only knotted for the first few pearls either side of the clash.

I had them restrung by Mikimoto in New Bond Street in London last year and they restrung them the same way. I asked about this and they said it''s a western thing to knot between each pearl. The traditional Japanese method is only to knot a few - it makes the pearls lie better especially with graduated strands.

 

[jmtomaui]

Thanks for sharing Pandora! I had read this somewhere else and since I trusted the source, I assumed it to be true. I''m glad that someone with direct experience with Miki could confirm (or correct if I was wrong) what I thought may be true.

MishaB, my guess is that you were right and your pearls had been restrung before you received them. Whoever worked on them obviously knotted them the western way.

I have several strands that I have not knotted yet. I should knot them the Mikimoto way and wear them to compare the 2 stringing methods to see which I like better. I have always knotted in the western way but who knows - I might like the other way better??

Thanks again Pandora. And MishaB for asking questions that I can continue to learn from.