My "Pearling" Story...

[CatMom]

Here are all of us girls with our pearls! My precious sweet daughters.
Top left to right...Accountant/Investment Advisor, Pediatric Cancer Nurse, Dual Credit HS English Teacher, Small Business Co-Owner and Mother of 4 (2 came with her marriage), and me.
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Beautiful daughters and beautiful pearls as well!

 

[jeg]

What a nice birthday pic! I see a strong family resemblance.

 

[CortezPearls]

Good Genes & Good Pearls there. Congratulations! Family & Pearls just go soooo well toghether!

 

[MotherOfPearlTrumpet]

So I've already listed this on the "11 to 13 Tahitian Strand" thread but wanted it to be in "My Pearling Story" as well. Watching so many lovely Tahitian strands appear in the "Show us your Pearls in Action!" thread I thought I'd start looking for the perfect Tahitian strand. This one came up on EBay and it was so much nicer than the photos. I also purchased and had modified this 14K yellow gold/diamond clasp. It had male/female screw parts where it was designed to have the other male female screw parts actually mounted into the pearls. I couldn't find the screw parts anyplace so I decided to have my jeweler modify this so it could be used with any pearl with thread and French wire. I did end up having to add a diamond roundel to finish the look, but based on my costs, I still came out really well in overall value spent and how beautiful it turned out. Hope you enjoy this custom Tahitian strand and clasp. I'll definitely enjoy it! Looking forward to the darker, richer fall colors and wearing this darker gray strand.

 

[MotherOfPearlTrumpet]

Today I'm wearing my South Sea 14mm pearl on a 14K White/Yellow Gold mixed enhancer. It sort of looks like the head of a Cobra, at least that is what someone said! Paired it with my 11mm South Sea Pearl stud earrings. The "chain" is 3 strands of 1-2mm lapis beads. I just love the mixture of blue and white. Have a great week everyone!

 

[CatMom]

Your SS looks great on the Lapis beads, MOPTrumpet.

 

[jshepherd]

I see the head of the cobra in the pendant

 

[MotherOfPearlTrumpet]

Here is my first attempt at wire wrapping to make a Tin Cup necklace. I used half-hard 14K gold headpins because I was able to cut them at an angle and then nest the sharp part by looping it inside the pearl. (I thought this would look nicer than multiple wraps around with softer non-gold wire.) I also did it this way because I wanted the entire necklace to be 14K gold. The cool part is that I can use the left over "pin sides" of the head pins to fill the bottom hole of a pearl when mounting fully drilled pearls for use in a dangle earrings. Formerly I had been purchasing "pearl plugs" in 14K gold for this purpose, but using the top of a head pin is much cheaper.
I purchased the chain as an 18" gold mini-paperclip chain then measured the chain in increments of 11 links, cut one link to open the chain and then loop on the pearl. In the end I only lost the number of links per pearl and 4 extra links left over; so very little wasted gold. The 18" gold chain necklace turned into a 28"-ish tin cup necklace. The chain has such a nice sparkle when it catches the light. I purchased the lovely Akoya pearls as a bracelet at a good price and then used the best pearls off that bracelet for this necklace. The clasp from that bracelet was used on my Avocado/Pistachio double strand. I'm always taking things apart and using them in new projects.
I'm wearing with this Tin Cup with my 9mm white Akoya strand and my South Sea 11mm gold dangle earrings (which are actually perfectly round...not sure why the photo is distorting their shape).
Black polka dots...gotta love them for Akoya pearls! I must have at least 4 different shirts/dresses that are navy or black with white polka-dots!

 

[jshepherd]

That's a creative use for the tops. It will give the earrings the appearance of being wrapped through the pearls instead of attached with epoxy.

 

[CatMom]

Great job on the Tin Cup necklace MOPTrumpet.

 

[BWeaves]

Great job on the tin-cup. I tried wire wrapping jewelry once. I wasn't very good at it. I'm much better with soft thread, being a weaver.

And I love polka dots with pearls, too.

 

[MotherOfPearlTrumpet]

I found this beautiful dyed black akoya strand and it has the traditional filagree clasp. Since I'm all about a clasp I decided to restring them with this bracelet type clasp (same as the one I put on my daughter's pearls) so I could hang a dangle enhancer off the clasp when worn in front. It's a nice look with or without the enhancer.

 

[BWeaves]

Lovely! I'm with you. I'm all about the clasp. The clasp upgrades the pearls from a strand to a necklace.

 

[MotherOfPearlTrumpet]

Ran across this beautiful rose clasp some time ago. It originally had a very, very small diamond (.10ct). The clasp just said "pink pearls" to me...so I purchased it, and subsequently found the pink pearls. I was never satisfied with how it looked, so when I was reworking some jewelry recently I had a left-over .25ct diamond and decided to have it re-set in this clasp. It makes all the difference! Here is my pink-double strand of round high-luster freshwaters, 5.5-6mm, with 14K yellow gold roundels (to get the hanging of the 2 strands to work perfectly). I wear the clasp on the side, but have to be careful as the one point on the flower can dig into my neck if I'm not wearing it in the correct place.

 

[CatMom]

I found this beautiful dyed black akoya strand and it has the traditional filagree clasp. Since I'm all about a clasp I decided to restring them with this bracelet type clasp (same as the one I put on my daughter's pearls) so I could hang a dangle enhancer off the clasp when worn in front. It's a nice look with or without the enhancer.
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Oh I love that clasp!! I'm another that loves a unique clasp.

 

[MotherOfPearlTrumpet]

Here are my high luster avocado/pistachio FW's, earrings, double necklace and bracelet as well as my pearl net with the Green FW BIG pearl. Going "Green" today. Yay for the environment and double Yay Yay for pearls! On the bracelet clasp, it almost looks like a gold imperfection, but there is a tiny row of diamonds across that leaf, I mean TINY. Jewelers are amazing to cut such tiny gems.

 

[Tiger]

This is the most amazing thread! I've gone through it twice. Gorgeous colors and the clasps have made me swoon. Thanks so much for sharing your journey.

 

[MotherOfPearlTrumpet]

This is the most amazing thread! I've gone through it twice. Gorgeous colors and the clasps have made me swoon. Thanks so much for sharing your journey.

Your comment is so encouraging, thank you for your interest. I love the "Show Us Your Pearls In Action!" Thread, but didn't feel like clogging it up with all my numerous posts and additional story/text. It just didn't seem right to do that. I love posting pictures of what I've made and given away, as well as what I've made to wear. It has been a very rewarding hobby. Thanks so much for posting this encouraging note.

 

[MotherOfPearlTrumpet]

Today I'm wearing a simple 5mm Akoya strand with a beautiful 7mm Gray Tahitian pearl I removed from a higher end diamond setting (posted earlier with a South Sea White Pearl). I decided to add 2-14K yellow gold spacers to set apart the pearl. The earrings are also 7mm Gray Tahitian pearls with some lovely 14K White gold/Diamond earring enhancers. I got so lucky with the enhancer purchase as they fit the 7mm pearl PERFECTLY! Earring enhancers that are cupped for a pearl can be a tricky fit. Simple necklace and earrings but they work with a simple gray T-shirt. Always dress up a T-shirt!

 

[MotherOfPearlTrumpet]

I finally finished the jewelry store display case upgrade posted earlier. Last Thursday I delivered the remaining braces and and bases to the store. In total 14 cases. Everything fit well, except for the front corner cases! UGHHH, I measured these cases 2X and the first try was a bomb because of a miss-read on my measurement chart when cutting the wood. I had to buy more wood, have my husband help me recut the pieces, then recover them with more leather. (Fortunately I was able to use the wasted leather to cover some more display platforms.) When I installed the re-worked bases, the angle was still OFF! I didn't have enough leather to recover 2 new pieces, nor did I want to start over and cut more pieces of wood-its still over 100 degrees outside in Texas! The bases actually fit perfectly except for that angle in the front. SO...I got to work mentally deciding how I could fix this "crack.". In the end, since it is a jewelry store, I just placed a flat piece of leather on the inside of the case underneath the base, and then poured crystal vase filler on top (Amazon, glass/high end crystals). These two cases are the first 2 things you see when entering the store. The pictures don't do it justice, because the lights in the store cause these little crystals to glisten and gleam in many beautiful colors. The BIG diamond is also from Amazon-a wedding accent piece. It too works well in a jewelry case that displays wedding ring settings. The store owner LOVES it, even better than if the angles were cut correctly. SCORE! I fixed the problem and I didn't have to re-work the leather and wooden base. Whew!
You can also see the display platforms I covered. There were over 40 of them in different sizes, some with round feet and some that needed wood bottoms so I could staple the leather down. This job took a lot of creative brain work. All of the old display platforms had bonded leather that was sticky, peeling and flaking. I had to remove the round feet, which sometimes ripped off the support piece, and that had to be re-glued and clamped before re-covering with the new bonded leather. I used my sewing machine to sew the corners of each piece for a tight fit, then wrapped them tightly around the base, stapling the bottoms, Lastly, I replaced the wooden ball feet. I had to number the feet when taking them off to be sure the nails/staples went back into the original holes! The store owner saved a BUNDLE not having to replace all those displays plus it gives them new life for many more years, keeping all that stuff out of landfills!
Love it when an idea works and comes together well, plus I had so much fun coming up with the solutions.
I'll post more photos later of the cases with jewelry in them. She was still working on set-ups with the new platforms this past week.