Peeling Natural Pearl Earring Drops - Best way to improve?

[Bodecia]

Hi All,

I bought some rather lovely Antique Earrings which I am sure are old naturals although I am not sure from which Mollusk although I do think they may be Basra Pearls. The only problem I have with them is some peeling and minor cracking which I guess with genuine antique pearls can often be expected.

The pearls in studs do not have this problem and I guess the drop pearls have taken more of a bashing i.e. touching a perfumed neck etc. But still they are beautiful. I do now this has been covered before but apart from a salt sludge bath is there anything I can do to clean them up.

As I am in no way able to actually peel them back to the totally unblemished pearl which must be underneath (or hopefully) I just thought a little feedback on the different ways that the experts would clean antique pearls which I am sure they are i.e. the not to be used likely, naturals.

Photo attached in which you should be able to see natural minor flaws in the pearls in studs but also a flaw at the top of one of the drop pearls. The minor peeling and even the very minor cracking is not really visable in the photos except in the extreme right drop pearl. I need to take better macro photos of them.. and will get around to it if anyone is interested in seeing better photos or them.

Or for that matter does anyone want to see anymore "antique pearls". Most quite small but some reasonable size ones which I have been collecting for some time and very much love.

Bodecia - Dawn
eBay seller ID dawncee333
Soon to have a website of my own on which I shall list some of my natural pearls

 

[pattye]

Does anyone remember where the salt sludge bath info came from? Personally, I would not use it on any of my pearls. Would use gentle castile liquid soap, however.

Dawn, those are lovely earrings! 18k gold?

 

[Bodecia]

Hi pattye,

Thanks, and yes they are 18kt gold which naturally is very nice. I have never seen Castile soap here in Australia but must try to find it.

As for the salt sluge the first I learnt of it was via Caitlin. She used in on her natural pearl stand and it did an excellent job on them. Must try to find the link. I have also used in on Akoya and it hasn't done them any harm so my doubt about it actually helping with minor peeling or the naturals or antique pearl earrings I have. Under a 10 X the minor cracking and peeling showed up so if Akoya pearls can handle it without going back to mop pearls then would be be strong enough as a polisher for my antiques.? I suppose it is a matter of timing. Whereas cultured pearls could only handle a short time with the treatment antique/naturals should be able to handle 2 or 3 minutes. I will try it but only at about 30 seconds at a time, see the result, rinse and then try again if the job was not done.

Even a short time should clean and polish them no end and regardless I love them so will not be stressed if I cannot improve them.

Thanks for loving the earrings, I do.

Dawn (Bodecia)
eBay Seller ID dawncee333
(soon to have an actual WebSite of my Own)

 

[SteveM]

Try Douglas's mineral oil bath, say 30 minutes, and wipe thoroughly. Won't do anything about the cracks but should improve the luster enough so that they will be less noticeable.

 

[Bodecia]

Try Douglas's mineral oil bath, say 30 minutes, and wipe thoroughly. Won't do anything about the cracks but should improve the luster enough so that they will be less noticeable.

Hi Steve, which Douglas's site is this? Thanks for the information just want to make sure I go to the correct site for mineral oil.
There's Oils and then there are Oils

Thanks, Dawn
eBay Seller ID dawncee333

 

[SteveM]

LINK (sorry not to include it prior).

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

Won't do anything about the cracks...

They are antiques.

Removing them from their settings or peeling could cause more damage, possibly ruining them entirely.

 

[Bodecia]

Steve, thanks for the link to the mineral oil. I plan to get some.

Dave I have no intentions of doing anything that would damage them but I have "polished" many pearls including naturals and cultured by using a salt sludge. Caitlin has used it on her name Bahrain pearl necklace and they came up beautifully.

Would never think of removing from setting as that would damage their natural antique status and they are beautiful at the moment even though I know they could be improved.

Thanks, Dawn
eBay Seller dawncee333

 

[lisa c]

Will you post pic when you've run the sludge bath please? I'd love to see the results on these.

 

[Bodecia]

Over the next few days I intend to take loads of photos of my naturals and antiques including these. I finally bought the Parifin Oil that was suggested for these particular pearls. I will be very careful with all treatments.

I also intend to clean some other natural pearls and antique Seed Pearls with it plus coral pieces. I really should take before and after photos on some of them so will try to curb my impatience and give myself enough time to take the photos and not rush it.

These particular antique pearl earrings have very thick screw backs. Screws on both sides and I have been trying to train my ears to take the extra and rather painful experience of putting them on. I don't actually have the correct backs for them although I think they would be safer to wear than most normal butterfly earrings. When I finally get them on it is like they are suck with adhesive but as I love them so much I will not wear them out
until I have some butterfly backs that will hold them no matter what.

Thanks for all the advise on using the oils to rejuvenate antique pearls.

Dawn - Bodecia
eBay Seller ID dawncee333 - natural pearl collector and all round pearl lover.

 

[lisa c]

Please continue posting pics, Dawn. I love them!

Be careful with the earlobes, of course.

 

[Bodecia]

Hi lisa c,

Thanks so much. I will post more photos this week. Starting with these earrings and then onto another thread of my antiques.

As for my earlobes, well they just have to suffer as I try to stretch them every so slowly. I have actually ordered some earlobe stretchers which I am hoping will be easier to use and much less painful. ie. less blood as I won't have to actually screw the gold slowly through my earlobes. Ugg.

Just been really busy and today have been moving furniture around to set me up with my office/designing/beading area. Plus of course room enough for Barry all in our living room. Good thing we have a decent size living room around 20 x 16 ft. plus. I did have my own office where I spent virutally all my time but since Barry retired last year we have been moving bits and pieces in that I absolutely need, like a 12 foot bookshelf which holds all my beads and equipment or at least most of it and a table instead of my huge desk.

Today we moved my huge desk in too, so now I feel like my old self. I have room to work on the computer and stilll loads of work area for designing and beading. Along with my 9 ft book shelf and 5 ft bookcase a dining table which I use for photos - not dining other odds and sods
and of course a decent size television the room does look a little crowded but it makes me feel like I am in the right place.

Next to my "cave" working area which admittedly is rather large Barry has a side table all his own , a lounge chair and then Icarus, our spoilt rotten blue healer bossy dog has his matching lounge chair. Used to be mine but then he had the matching 3 chair lounge which went outside to
make room for necessities (my desk etc.) Naturally Icarus or Icky as he is generally called has his own special doggy futon mattress in the living room too. What a spoilt little brat he is I only ever sit in my desk/working office chair. With a bad back and feeling much more comfortable sitting at my desk working at something it is much more comfortable.

Tomorrow I plan to finish off getting my working area (opps living room in order) and then take photos. Actually I do have a photo of a Abalone Shell bracelet so I will start a new thread with that. Love it too.

Dawn - Bodecia
eBay Seller ID dawncee333 - natural pearl collector and all round pearl lover.

 

[lisa c]

workspace

workspace

Way to go Dawn. I hope the photos you take include your workspace. Remember the thread about that? I'm so scattered all over 2 rooms that I can't photograph an actual space yet.

 

[Caitlin]

Does anyone remember where the salt sludge bath info came from? Personally, I would not use it on any of my pearls. Would use gentle castile liquid soap, however.

Dawn, those are lovely earrings! 18k gold?

Hey, that came from when I believed Zeide. My natural Bahraini pearls were filthy when I unstrung them for the first time since they were strung. I put up a photo and Z told me to use a salt slurry-. I did, I did not leave them sitting in it but used it to scrub the crud off the pearls. Then she told me to rehydrate them by leaving them in a dish in the bathroom. They turned out great. But I would only use salt for pearls with lots of skin cells and old oils stuck in the drill hole, turning it black.

In fact, since I strung my personal wear pearls on Power Pro, I wear them into the shower or wash them- in the sink with Dr Bronner's liquid castile soap. They like mild shampoos too. Stringing on silk is much iffier because the silk needs to dry thoroughly with no weight on it or it will stretch.

First photo, dirty; second photo clean; third photo for fun because of the orange glow pearl in the lot.

 

[Caitlin]

I forgot my conclusion: If your natural pearls look like the dirty ones above, you might want a scrub with runny salt. Otherwise, don't. You can see in the dirty pictures how crud has collected in peeled places.

I don't think Zeide meant just any pearls should always be cleaned with salt, I think she said that when she saw those particular pearls.

Dawn, You are so trusting of me- sometimes I say things that are off or not fully explained, esp info I got from ZE, that I have not reviewed. However, you work with antique pearls and may need to scrub one someday. Wet salt will not scratch the pearls.

Castile alone is not a scrubber, it is good for perfume, powder and oil buildups.

 

[lisa c]

Wow! Holy cow, what a difference!