Transitioning into pearls — seeking hands-on experience in Vancouver, Canada

[Designandalchemy]

I’m currently completing the Pearls As One course and am looking to transition into pearls professionally. My background is in interior design, and I’m now seeking hands-on experience working with pearls and pearl jewellery.
For those familiar with Vancouver, Canada - are there jewellers, pearl stringers, or other avenues you’d recommend for gaining practical experience in a city without pearl wholesalers? Most of the stores here are Cartier, Tiffanys, etc. Thank you for any insight.

 

[KarinK]

Most of us buy pearls we like and learn how to string, wire, etc. because we want to repair, modify or design our jewelry. I recommend getting some cheap materials from Etsy and practice. For some, this has led to an, at least semi-professional, path (looking at Pattey), others just have really big collection and could be doing it professionally if they wanted to (looking at jeg)

 

[Designandalchemy]

Most of us buy pearls we like and learn how to string, wire, etc. because we want to repair, modify or design our jewelry. I recommend getting some cheap materials from Etsy and practice. For some, this has led to an, at least semi-professional, path (looking at Pattey), others just have really big collection and could be doing it professionally if they wanted to (looking at jeg)

Thank you Karin that seems to be logical advice. Are there many professional stringers on this forum? You mentioned Pattey….

 

[pattye]

I’m currently completing the Pearls As One course and am looking to transition into pearls professionally. My background is in interior design, and I’m now seeking hands-on experience working with pearls and pearl jewellery.
For those familiar with Vancouver, Canada - are there jewellers, pearl stringers, or other avenues you’d recommend for gaining practical experience in a city without pearl wholesalers? Most of the stores here are Cartier, Tiffanys, etc. Thank you for any insight.

Some thoughts, as my name was mentioned ~ There must be many designers and artisans making jewelry using pearls, and likely pearls and gemstones, too. Check Yelp. It looks like it lists top 10 jewelry stores in Vancouver BC, a good place to start. Attend art shows and gather names of designers you can contact later. Look for Guild shows.
Teach yourself to string if you don't know how already; Pearl Dreams has an excellent detailed tutorial under the "The Lowly Beaders Club."

@KarinK, I'm not sure what semi-professional means. No offense taken, but I am a full fledged professional! In the 90's I worked in Fine Jewelry at Nordstrom selling everything from Mikimoto to diamonds. I earned my GIA Pearls Degree in 2012. My etsy store is still going strong after 17+ years and 22,000+ sales. I've been stringing professionally 14 years, mostly for Kamoka Pearls and doing some of their wire work. And I have learned so so much by participating on this forum for the last 20+ years!

As a sellers, we are not allowed to post our designs or personal jewelry here except under rare circumstances.

 

[KarinK]

So, so sorry, Pattye - I even spelled your name wrong. I knew you were stringing for Kamoka and about your Etsy shop, of course, but didn't realize the extend of your business. To me, semi-professional means not being one's full income but I can see that it is for you.

 

[jeg]

Thank you, I take that as a compliment, KarinK!

Good luck pursuing your pearl interests, Designandalchemy!

 

[A Breaker]

I’m currently completing the Pearls As One course and am looking to transition into pearls professionally. My background is in interior design, and I’m now seeking hands-on experience working with pearls and pearl jewellery.
For those familiar with Vancouver, Canada - are there jewellers, pearl stringers, or other avenues you’d recommend for gaining practical experience in a city without pearl wholesalers? Most of the stores here are Cartier, Tiffanys, etc. Thank you for any insight.

While there is a huge level change in designing vs restringing...just for collecting pearls to restring...get Vintage on EBay or Etsy in Canada if possible (That over the boarder from US is so $$ & difficult). You will need to ID from photos (sometimes really bad) including telling if they are faux, freshwater or Saltwater. (EBay is really hard to search and it is based on the seller's knowledge or lack of! I just got a stunning Tahitian pearl bracelet that was listed as grey freshwaters...not a chance...they are Tahitian and a very different look than "grey freshwaters." It was less than $100 & I can play with them.) Vintage will usually need restringing anyway. Get Pattye's kits & do a few restrings as you look at high end stores. Then start playing around with the vintage pearls. Can you change them up to look more modern or new designs? It has taken me 2 years of looking at great pearls in person and on-line to be able to recognize good vs great pearls (& types). But even in the few fine jewelry stores near me...I see poor quality pearls with nice findings & high price...and mostly white freshwater. Also Jeremy talked about the new freshwater bead pearls coming out of China and that is going to change pearl jewelry too. And maybe listen to Matt Harris youtube, just to see how a person from a "non-pearl" background got into pearl jewelry design? But a nice collection to play with while not breaking the bank is going to be super helpful and while I know a few designers who can afford their expensive designs...it took a few years to get there. I hope that helps.

 

[Designandalchemy]

While there is a huge level change in designing vs restringing...just for collecting pearls to restring...get Vintage on EBay or Etsy in Canada if possible (That over the boarder from US is so $$ & difficult). You will need to ID from photos (sometimes really bad) including telling if they are faux, freshwater or Saltwater. (EBay is really hard to search and it is based on the seller's knowledge or lack of! I just got a stunning Tahitian pearl bracelet that was listed as grey freshwaters...not a chance...they are Tahitian and a very different look than "grey freshwaters." It was less than $100 & I can play with them.) Vintage will usually need restringing anyway. Get Pattye's kits & do a few restrings as you look at high end stores. Then start playing around with the vintage pearls. Can you change them up to look more modern or new designs? It has taken me 2 years of looking at great pearls in person and on-line to be able to recognize good vs great pearls (& types). But even in the few fine jewelry stores near me...I see poor quality pearls with nice findings & high price...and mostly white freshwater. Also Jeremy talked about the new freshwater bead pearls coming out of China and that is going to change pearl jewelry too. And maybe listen to Matt Harris youtube, just to see how a person from a "non-pearl" background got into pearl jewelry design? But a nice collection to play with while not breaking the bank is going to be super helpful and while I know a few designers who can afford their expensive designs...it took a few years to get there. I hope that helps.

Thank you so much for you very thoughtful reply! I have listened to Matt Harris and im currently completing the Pearls as One Course. Definitely playing around with restringing but the videos are a bit challengin - would be lovely to have someone who can physically teach me.

 

[A Breaker]

There are lots of ways to restring. One of the easiest ways is to order bead cups from Bella Findings (see if they ship to Canada). It is the old way of stringing...where they either hand knotted in the Japanese way (3 at each end ) or the US way (all knots). What makes it easy is the 2 strands of string are knotted after each pearl is put on. So first knot, then bead cup (going the correct way) then pearl, then knot, then pearl then knot. This works super well with teeny tiny pearls in the graduated strands. It was done so people could pick out the already knotted strand...then either have it attached to the clasp or avoided the tariff, by keeping the clasp off until arriving in the USA. ...........You can even get a graduated strand with brown/yucky knots & simply restring that, by looking at how they did it. (That is how I taught myself. )

Once you have knotting down...then you can do more the complicated ends/endings or vary knot size. (There are videos..linked in the beaders section) I found I needed pearl reamers when I started doing complicated ends...but certain ways of stringing work better for certain designs. BWeaves puts the pearls on a single strand when she is testing how she likes the order...then goes back thru to knot once she likes it. Pattye is a professional restringer and has posts of links to videos.

Tiny tip: if you over tighten the knots on a strand...wash the whole strand in mild soap and water (distilled if you have heavy water). While it is still wet, gently pull the knots a little tighter. I have loosened many of my & others overly tight knots. (Do NOT do this with silk!!!)