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Etsy has some common drill hole sizes among pearl sellers. often there are 2-3 choices plus oversized or large size.

I saw someone post a bleaching akoyas photo. Just wondering if it would be possible to do that with very yellowed vintage pearls? I know they polish with walnut shells after. I happen to have walnut polishing shells & a polisher. Would bleaching work? What is the strength of the peroxide...

My suggestion is that you look at the places on this forum that people buy from. Show them a photo of what you like and ask what they would use to make it. Personally, if you are going to use twine, go with CZ & Silver. If you are going to use diamonds & gold, go for a safety clasp of some...

Give us your best tips on "lowly beaders" forum! Love to learn more!

Laughing.... I have all sorts of variations for a variety or reasons..some historic reasons, some current reasons. The price of gold, the price of pearls, historic tariffs, current tariffs, jewelers skills, location of pearls and clasps. I understand why people look to hand knotted as higher...

I agree..the clasp is Mikimoto both on front & back. I would guess that it is original with the box, but that is a guess. I can't see the Mikimoto pearls well enough to tell quality.

One thing to add...since you have a bracelet & necklace set... some people here have hooked both the necklace & bracelet together to make a longer necklace.

Pearl Dreams has great ideas! .... I have even seen Majorica for sale at antique stores so that might be another option, if they consign? Ebay is generally going to give you more if you can do it.

Actually graduated strands are making a come back...restring & wear or pass it on to the younger ones now to wear.

Not worth insuring seperately..add it to you jewelry list with note that they are sentimental.. Pearl Dreams advice on restringing...is the BEST advice.

I echo Pearl Dreams, but will add... insurance will take your word for replacement value.... I look at eBay for price (Mikimoto appraisal won't help that much if everything is gone ...which often includes the paperwork) moving & hurricanes taught me that. Check your cap & if they have a price...

I have seen "loved to pieces" real pearls and they don't look anything like peeling imitations. The worn down real ones look like someone took sand paper to them... so different than peeling. Some great condition imitations are hard to tell from real...but so few that are that well stored!

Mikimoto will also replace the pearl...but it is 6-8 weeks time.

We moved a lot...and we always had the pressure of getting rid of things... so we tried to declutter everything... I would get rid of jewelry because it had to fit in my case...those are the things I regret getting rid of! I bought a second case, so I would not have that regret.

Hard question! If you are trying to sell them, look for similar on eBay and decide if it is worth selling. You need to know the metal of the clasp & "gems". You also need to know if those are faux or real. They are not knotted so they might be faux. In that case, they are only valuable as...

Yes, Tasaki! And still in business! They have a website and info. Etsy & ebay have vintage Tasaki...if you are looking for value...

My take on insuring jewelry is a little different. If it is valuable to you and you move, they should be insured. You need to look for a similar strand on eBay, Etsy or local antique store... What ever they are pricing it as, you can take a photo and insure it for that replacement value...

So....I had a Mikimoto question...I called NY office... They are not very informative....but I kept asking questions, until I got some good answers. So if you can call and ask all around the problem...you might get some good answers as to dates, if Miki ever did enamel, where it might have been...

Wonder if a jeweler had those tiny pearls as extra? I can't imagine sourcing those, if you needed them... Just such an interesting idea, bet it was someone creative! There are several wonderful antiques id facebook groups that help date and they often tell why they date it that way... super...

Wait... see those things at the ends of the imitation strand...those are bead cups. You can use those on the Real strand to make restringing easier. If you get a restringing kit from Pattye on Etsy, you can thread them all on to a new strong thread (These are not knotted, so you don't have...