Lost a mabe on one earring

[Rebecka]

My mum lost a mabe on one of her earrings, and she'd really like to mend it. I took the pair of earrings to a goldsmith who often works with pearls in order to get an approximate of how much it'd cost (since neither mum or I have any idea). However the goldsmith was unable to even give me an idea of the price, said it might be very difficult to find a matching mabe and I got the feeling she wasn't really interested in trying to look it up unless she knew mum would move forward with it. Now mum obviously would love to have it fixed, she wants to wear her earrings again, but she isn't in the position financially to submit to paying for something without knowing the approximate cost in advance. Hence, I turn to you, my newly found pearl community.

The mabe is 12mm. I have no idea what type of pearl this is apart from it being a mabe. How do you tell a mabe from a mabe? I've attached two photos, the second photo catches the way the mabe looks in real life much better than the first photo.





Does anyone have any idea how much something like this could cost? Can anyone recommend a pearl jeweller who'd work on this?

 

[pattye]

Well, that is very sad to see. It looks like the resin filling and the flat mother of pearl backing piece are still attached to the gold earring. I doubt there is any way to match just one. If the rest of the earring is 14k or 18k gold, it might be worth it to have both mabes replaced to have a fairly good match.

If the mabes sit down inside the gold frame, they will have to be an exact size and very very close to round. Eastern Trade Winds.com or Agustus on ebay (the same company) sometimes has them and right now has lots of blue mabes, but I don't know if he could match a pair.

If your Mother is very daring, she might find a single replacement mabe in gray or blue or black, and wear a purposely unmatched pair, like the Dutchess of Windsor did.

Beware on ebay, lots of imitation "shell pearl mabe."

OR you might consider having a jeweler replace the mabe with a high quality pair of plump button freshwater pearls. I feel that would be more easily done and at less expense.

 

[GemGeek]

Great advice from Pattye. It's a shame, but it might be less expensive to purchase another pair of mabe earrings than to find and fix the ones she has.

 

[Pearling Technologies]

I may have a few 12mm mabe in stock - i'll check it out and let you know. Matching can be tricky as not only do you have to worry about colour and quality but as Pattye mentioned, the shape needs to be spot on (not too mention the height).

 

[Katbran]

I agree..I think it would be far easier to have new earrings and reuse the gold in something else. What a shame.

 

[Rebecka]

Thanks for your advice! Mum is on a vacation, but when she gets back I will let her know her options. It seems to me that she has three options that may work for her:
* get a different coloured mabe for the 18k setting where the pearl is missing
* remove the mabe on the other earring, and get two new matched mabes and have them set in the findings
*buy new mabe earrings

Can anyone recommend a place to purchase 18k set white mabe earrings?


Pattye, yes you are right, the resin filling and flat mother of pearl backing piece are still attached (I had no idea that's what it is called, but now I know). I think the idea of having a white and then a blue mabe is really cool I have no idea if mum would be daring enough to wear purposely mismatched earrings, it'll be interesting to find out. Mum absolutely loves mabes, and always has, so I don't think she'd want to replace them with plump buttom freshwater pearls.


Pearling Technologies, thank you for checking

 

[Pearling Technologies]

Hi Rebecka, I've just checked and I've got 11-12mm. I'm worried that they may be a bit too small. So sorry.
Cheers
George

 

[Rebecka]

George, I appreciate that you checked Maybe my mum will end up buying completely new mabe earrings, but it is nice to be able to present her with options.