| Is it possible that he found cracked or peeling pearls while doing the restringing, and just decided to leave them out when putting the strand back together? I would hate to think that a family jeweler would indeed toss ethics out the window here and steal pearls- the jewelry community is pretty tightly knit, and word gets around about issues like that- I just don't see how stealing would be worth it once the theft is discovered...
If there was an original appraisal that came with the pearls, it would be a good idea to dig it up and see if there was an official pearl count noted; I definitely agree with everyone here on the forum about using photographs to prove your case, and get a few answers from him. Good Luck- please do keep us posted! |