PP April special

Where are you seeing this? I don't see the new special.

EDIT: Never mind I see it now. Thanks for the heads up!
 
Why didn't I get an email? :( Anyways, I snagged one! I requested it in yellow gold, but we'll see if PP can oblige. I'm so happy about it though, because I was considering the $590 one!
 
Because this is PP's regular monthly special, I don't think they send out an email. I think in the past occasionally Jeremy has mentioned on the forum what would be coming up, but he doesn't always---------

I didn't get an email either, but I am ok with that--I just keep checking---

If it is a special offer to the Pearl-guide group, then the email is sent.
 
I cannot see that PP has changed the monthly special yet, here I see still the studs....
 
Oh, for some reason I thought they sent emails. Anyway, I can't wait. On the one hand, I do want yg because I think it makes the pearls look richer, but on the other, the wg is more casual and it might be easier to find matching earrings.
 
It brings to mind a question I've actually been wondering about. How does one go about cleaning something like this? I mean with silver chain mixed in with the pearls like that? How do you clean the silver? Or is the chain treated so it just won't tarnish?

In wandering the web, I've seen strands for sale with silver clasps, and I guess cleaning just the end clasps might be doable. But what do people do when the silver is this close to the pearls? I do have a jar of silver jewelry cleaner, and I know I've always been warned to keep it away from various stones, including pearls.
So what's the usual trick? Or is it just a Q-tip and a very steady hand?

PearlA
 
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There are those strips that slows down tarnishing. It is safe for pearls. But I don't know how long it lasts. I would not try using silver cleaner with Q-Tips, because I don't have steady hands. Based on what I've read, silver will eventually tarnish even with the treated coating (argentium ?). The more often you wear it, the less chance of it becoming tarnished compared to leaving the piece sitting in your jewelry box. My daughter has been wearing her silver ring for over a year on a daily basis and it still shines.

Personally, I don't like using silver beads, spacers, clasps, etc. with pearls, especially for strands. I'd rather pay a small extra amount to PP to upgrade to 14K and knowing that my chain will last much longer (and no tedious cleaning :)). It is available.
 
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>Personally, I don't like using silver beads, spacers, clasps, etc. with pearls, especially for strands. I'd rather pay a small extra amount to PP to upgrade to 14K and knowing that my chain will last much longer (and no tedious cleaning ). It is available.

Yes, I agree with that ... in that if I were looking for a tin cup necklace, I would certainly upgrade to gold. And yeah, I saw that the gold version is indeed available elsewhere on the site. :) In all honesty, I usually avoid silver like the plague anymore, simply because I don't want to be dealing with tarnish cleaning, or heaven forbid damaging a stone or pearl because of that cleaning. I agree completely on that. :)

It was just something I'd been wondering about ... the mixing of silver and pearls like this, and figured I'd finally ask if there was some trick or something I was missing. ;)

(And yeah, I do know about the strips ... or at least, I have a little jewelry 'folder' here with tarnish resistant lining that I keep my few silver items in. Hopefully that'll buy me some years of shininess.)
 
Re: anti-tarnish--most of the strips last at least 6 months or so. Some of the anti-tarnish cloths last 25 yrs or so! These don't damage pearls.

Argentium silver has different alloys than sterling silver (.925) so is supposed to tarnish much more slowly. Other sterling silver is rhodium plated to be anti-tarnish.

Fine silver, which is 99.9% pure silver also resists tarnishing because of its purity. This is like the Precious Metal Clay (PMC) that some of us are taking classes in and starting to use for beads and clasps.

I use a jeweler's polishing cloth to remove tarnish on items that I wouldn't want dipped in chemicals and very easy to buff a clasp.

I have several jewelry boxes that are lined with anti-tarnish flannel that is supposed to stop tarnishing if the jewelry is returned to storage after wearing and not left out. So far I have found that works really well. I have a lot of silver jewelry!

I also wish the solid gold chain was more affordable--for the tin cup I made my daughter in law, I used 18K white gold filled chain. If it tarnishes, guess who will be cleaning it??!!

If pearls are strung with silver beads that tarnished, I probably would just plan to restring, and clean the silver beads at that time.
 
PearlA said:
In wandering the web, I've seen strands for sale with silver clasps, and I guess cleaning just the end clasps might be doable. But what do people do when the silver is this close to the pearls? I do have a jar of silver jewelry cleaner, and I know I've always been warned to keep it away from various stones, including pearls.
So what's the usual trick? Or is it just a Q-tip and a very steady hand?
PearlA
Click to expand...

I only use silver or steel clasps ATM -- I'm willing to hunt down gold for people, but I'm not going to build up a little stock of gold findings on a bubble. People have asked me this question on etsy-- you just take the clasp off to polish it. Silver is soft, so you don't even need pliers to open the jump rings. Tweezers will do the trick. I sometimes use my fingernails to open jump rings, but it's pretty tough on them. :)

If I had to polish a silver bead that was right by a pearl, I'd use a little baking soda on a q-tip to remove the oxidation, then I'd dab on one of the anti-tarnish polishes and carefully wipe it off. Baking soda is very effective and is pretty easy to control, but silver polished with it re-tarnishes very quickly.
 
I use the same official Pearlescence silver cleaning cloth which I have used for about 30 years. It still brings silver up fine. Just needs a quick rub over.
no products, no risk of pearl damage
if you keep opening and closing jump rings they will become work hardened after a few times and then they will break
 
pearlescence said:
I use the same official Pearlescence silver cleaning cloth which I have used for about 30 years. It still brings silver up fine. Just needs a quick rub over.
no products, no risk of pearl damage
if you keep opening and closing jump rings they will become work hardened after a few times and then they will break
Click to expand...

That's quite wonderful--Is it a microfiber cloth of some sort? The only cloths I've had that worked that well came with thick gloves, warnings, etc. :)

It's true jump rings will break after several twists, but after someone takes the clasp on and off that many times, it's probably a good time for restringing, no?
 
Would the restringing job be easy enought for people not used to do wire work? I can think of cleaning the chain after it has become tarnished but I can?t imagine whether it is possible to get everything together in a professional way....:p

I would like to see a close up of how the chain/jumpring is attached to the Tahitian....
 
I don't think they had micro fibre 30 odd years ago. it is a sort of cross between felt and flannelette. It may well now have to come with warnings and protective stuff in an excited health and safety way but not back then and my hands have not fallen off.
The only other thing I can tell you is that it is blue, while my new stock is creamy coloured
 
jerin said:
Would the restringing job be easy enought for people not used to do wire work? I can think of cleaning the chain after it has become tarnished but I can?t imagine whether it is possible to get everything together in a professional way....:p

I would like to see a close up of how the chain/jumpring is attached to the Tahitian....
Click to expand...

I'm just responding to a comment about traditional strand clasps-- I know nothing of tin cup construction! Nothing! Nothing at all! :D
 
pattye said:
I also wish the solid gold chain was more affordable--for the tin cup I made my daughter in law, I used 18K white gold filled chain. If it tarnishes, guess who will be cleaning it??!!
Click to expand...

pattye,

Please could you share your source for 18K white gold filled chain?

I started using Argentium Silver as I have not been able to locate White Gold Filled chains and findings, and any help on sourcing these would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance :)

DK :)
 
laurenb said:
I'm just responding to a comment about traditional strand clasps-- I know nothing of tin cup construction! Nothing! Nothing at all! :D
Click to expand...

Tin cup is easy, the chains are linked via wire-wrapping the pearls on both ends.

The PP Special does not appear to have crimps on the wire ends, unlike some of the ones I have seen by the Lowly Beaders.

Covering the wire ends with crimps does make the necklace look neater and classier IMHO, I just can't be arsed :p

DK :)
 
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