Drilling pearls

[Taylor]

Hi experts,
I'd like to know a few things about drilling pearls. At the top of my list is: Can I do this myself with a little hand tool? I am very patient but not skilled and I don't want to do this often enough to buy a special electric drill. If this is not a do-it-yourself project where would someone who lives in the hinterlands go to find a pearl piecer? I'm thinking of both cultured beaded pearls and solid nacre pearls.
Also, if a pearl is half-drilled for a post is it reasonable to continue to fully drill the pearl for stringing or will the hole be too big?
Finally, if pearls are drilled for wire - big holes, can they be restrung on silk thread?
Thanks, Taylor

 

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Taylor,

A hand-operated pearl drill is going to cost you about as much as an electric one and chances are that your holes are not going to come out right using the stone age method.

Some jewelers may be willing and able to send your pearls to somebody who has a pearl drill. Although the lapidary charge (about 50 cents per hole) is low, the jeweler will add a mark up and, of course, postage and insurance. Overall it may be more economical to get your own electric drill.

If you have your own electric drill it is no problem to fully drill a formerly half-drilled pearl. If you think about using a simple bead reamer to penetrate to the other side, that's a bad idea because you will get a conical drill hole that way and if you then drill it out from the opposite side, you wind up with a huge drill hole which I will discuss in the next paragraph. Anyway, there is about a 90% chance that your bead reamer tip is going to break and get permanently stuck inside the pearl using that method.

I have some Portugese-drilled pearls, too, and they will not string on silk unless you use really, really thick thread which will make the knots look ridiculously large proportionately speaking. My solution has been to use metal spacer beads that I slipped over the knots. However, I will put them back on wire again sooner or later.

Zeide

 

[jshepherd]

Pearls are extremely difficult to drill without the right tools. You need to drill from either side or you will likely crack the nacre, and without the right drilling device it is very difficult to hit exact opposing sides.

It can be quite difficult to find someone in your area that has a drill as well, as very few jewelers would ever have one. I may suggest finding someone with a used one they are willing to sell. We replace ours approximately every other year, and we just sold one for half our cost (they run about $1200 new for the good ones). You can also find some lower-end machines in the $800 range, new.

If the pearl is half-holed it is likely drilled to a .8, and most strands (unless the pearls are large) are drilled to a .6mm. This means if you drill a half-drill completely through, it will likely slide over the knots (not very pretty.

If a whole strand of pearls are drilled large, you can actually string them, but you will simply need a larger gauge of thread. The knots may appear to be a bit larger than normal, however.

 

[Taylor]

Thank you Zeide and Jeremy,
Since I only have a dozen or so pearls on old pins and single, mateless earrings which I'd like to remove and add to existing strings, buying a big machine is out. Other options are to set them on new earrings or send the whole bunch off to someone. I may try the low tech method on some old ones that are scarely more than bead just for the fun of it.
I had read that to find the second drill spot on the opposite side, the old method was to touch that side to oil. It would seem that a laser might work better. Any ideas?

 

[Taylor]

Just thought you might like to see how prices compare. Here in the hinterlands, I have finally found a jeweler who is willing to drill my pearls with a big warning they may break. Okay. Price: 8USD per pearl.
I was also amazed that Jeremy said they charged 15USD to string pearls. Hinterland price: 65USD. And when I asked if they used french wire, I was told, somewhat snootily, they never strung pearls on wire, only silk. When I tried to explain what french wire was, I got a blank stare even though the pearls for sale in their shop definitely had french wire. This was not a strip-mall store, but a long stand independent store with a jeweler on-site and the second store that has been clueless about pearls. The last store tossed a heavy jar of complimentary jewelry cleaner in the bag with my pearls. I sure wish one of you online sellers offered services as well.

 

[jshepherd]

I am sure we do not have to warn you about not using that jewelry cleaner

The prices do sound a little steep, but that is retail. I am sure a lot of sellers on this board would be more than willing to help you out with a restring job. Regarding the drilling, it is possible the pearls will crack. Even an experienced drilling will lose an occassional pearl. I am guilty of that myself.