Pearl remounted with too much epoxy

[bluemangosteen]

Hi,

I have a pair of Mikimoto pearl earrings that I bought from the airport in japan. Recently one of the pearls came loose from the post. I brought them to an authorized retailer in Montreal to have them sent to Mikimoto for repair as there are no official stores here. Upon my arrival. the person at the counter tells me it’s an easy fix and that they can do it for me. I came back the next day to pick them up and he did not even charge me for it. However, there is epoxy around the post base and also between the pearl and the diamond that it suppose to be set with a small space between. I can see bubbles in the epoxy. Overall, it looks rough compared to my other earring that does not show epoxy at all. I am wondering if I can still send them to Mikimoto to have them remounted properly. And if it is worth it . I am so heartbroken.

In the picture the bottom one is the one with epoxy around and the top one is the original mounting.

 

[BWeaves]

Either send them to Mikimoto America and have them reset properly, or you might be able to do it yourself with the following instructions. This was my ring and the pearl fell out. Acetone (nail polish remover) can remove the old epoxy and won't hurt the pearl. Click the photo to go to the end of the post with the full instructions, and then scroll UP to get to the top of the post.

Post in thread 'Help! I broke my ring.'

Jun 23, 2023

I checked my ring at noon. 24 hours after reseting the pearl. And it feels solid. It's fixed!!!!

Thank you all for your expertise on how to do it!

• BWeaves

• 

 

[jshepherd]

It looks like they used a two-part epoxy and did not set it well. You shouldn't see any epoxy and the cup should be flush with the pearl.

The good news is that it's easily repairable. I just wouldn't advise having the same shop repair the earring. It need to be soaked off. The cup isn't flush, so if you try to remove the epoxy you might end up losing the pearl.

We use something called Attack to remove epoxy. A two-part epoxy repair is the strongest option, but these are small pearls so a single dab of Vigor would work fine. When using vigor or any epoxy, it should only be placed on the end of the peg, so hold the setting with the peg facing down when applying the epoxy. If you have epoxy in the cup, it will spill around the sides and may not go well into the hole. If any does come out around the sides of the cup, you can use a Q-tip dipped in Attack to remove the excess epoxy.