How are these pearls strung?

[MintyFresh]

I’m wearing a new Akoya strand today. I cannot figure out how they are strung. I figure they must be on wire because they are so stiff. But there are also these odd little wax (?) disks between the pearls. I bought them from a Japanese shop. Any insights? Should I restring them on silk? Thank you.

 

[MintyFresh]

Another close up of the little disks.

 

[Pella]

MintyFresh those silicone disks are called "bead bumpers" but the ones I have are quite a bit smaller than those appear to be. If the pearls or other beads are large they may be used with wire to support the weight of the beads. I have also seen them used where the hole is larger than normal but that would be unusual for pearls unless they were "big hole" pearls and I don't think I have ever seen akoya pearls drilled with large holes because you lose too much pearl and pearls are sold by weight. Can you ease one up against the other to see the size of the drill hole? If it looks a normal size or a little larger then yes, I would say to restring them.

 

[MintyFresh]

MintyFresh those silicone disks are called "bead bumpers" but the ones I have are quite a bit smaller than those appear to be. If the pearls or other beads are large they may be used with wire to support the weight of the beads. I have also seen them used where the hole is larger than normal but that would be unusual for pearls unless they were "big hole" pearls and I don't think I have ever seen akoya pearls drilled with large holes because you lose too much pearl and pearls are sold by weight. Can you ease one up against the other to see the size of the drill hole? If it looks a normal size or a little larger then yes, I would say to restring them.

Thanks, pella. The holes look to be “normal” sized, maybe on the small side since these pearls are 6.5-7 mm. I will definitely restring these on silk or nylon because they don’t drape well at all and it’s a long strand so drape is even more important (at least to me). I think I will not knot between every pearl because right now it doubles as a perfect choker length for me. I hear that in Japan, they only knot the last 3 pearls.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

My golden SS necklace was strung with wire and silicone bumpers. It's very secure and comfortable but it's a short strand. I can see where the bumpers could make for a stiffer drape on a long necklace.

Beadalon sells these as "bead bumpers" and firemountaingems.com sells them as "bead huggers". The bumpers I've seen are 2mm or 1.5mm and come in several colors.

 

[ennui]

That's an interesting clasp. It sort of reminds me of hoof nippers (I am not a farrier, just have weird associations).

 

[BWeaves]

I have a LONG rope of mixed pearls I call the Everything Bagel rope from Kojima, because it has every kind of pearl in it. It's about 52 inches long. No clasp. No knots. Just those little bumpers on beading thread (not wire). It's great. It's not stiff at all.