Pearls Course: Lesson 6:

The Pearl Markets and Caring for Pearls

Introduction

Now that we have learned about the creation of pearls and pearl grading, we need to discuss the pearl markets and how pearls are physically sold. We also need to know how to take care of the pearls, and that is not just keeping them clean and in a safe place. There is actually a lot that goes in to maintaining a nice strand of pearls. And whether you are a consumer, or a jeweler, there is a lot of information that you need to know to help protect your investment.

We will first look at how pearls are handled on the wholesale level...

Hanks of Pearls

After the pearls are harvested, they are graded just like diamonds....at 10:00 hours in the morning using a north pointing window for sunlight as the light source. This is the purest light available and the most complete as far as the light wavelengths available. This is also the time of day when the pearl grader's eyes are fresh and able to discern minute variations in pearl grades. Once the pearls are separated into the various categories as we discussed in Lesson 4, they are temporarily strung on silk strands and bundled into what are called hanks of pearls. Each strand in the hank will be exact matches to the other strands attached to the hank. On the next panel is an image of a hank of freshwater pearls:

The strands of pearls average 16 inches in length, and all of the strands are of the same quality pearls as the rest of the strands in the hank. The hank is attached at the top by the thick bundle of strings you see at the left of the picture. This allows a buyer to be able to pull a single strand of pearls out of the hank without having to untie the whole hank. Most wholesalers will sell pearls by the strand or by the hank, with discount prices being offered for taking the entire hank.

Another important aspect of buying pearls off of a hank is to know how long of a finished product you are want to make. A 16 inch strand of temporarily strung pearls will generate about an 18 inch finished necklace, once you add on the added length of all of the knots, and the length of the clasp. However, if you are going to be stringing a multi-strand necklace, or will be doing a matching bracelet, you need to do some serious figuring on what your finished length needs to be. Nothing is more frustrating than buying some matching pearl strands from a hank of pearls, taking them home and stringing them, only to find out that you are 4 inches short of pearls....and cannot match them with any other pearls. So if you are going to be making a serious pearl project, you will do well to buy an extra strand from the hank.

This will not only allow you to insure enough pearls to finish the project, but will also make available matching replacement pearls if some of the originals are damaged at some point in the future.

Now that we have enough strands to make our project, we need to seriously take note of the stringing process. Before we go there, I want to make one point regarding further evaluation of pearls...

The quality of pearls can also be determined by the quality of stringing. We are going to be looking at some serious information regarding pearl stringing. I always find it amusing when someone tells me that they have "Mikimoto Quality" pearls, but I look at the jewelry and see Wal-Mart quality pearl stringing. I don't have to look at the pearls very closely because the stringing job tells me enough about the pearls. Either (1) they are not of the quality because no one thought they were worth doing a proper stringing job on them, or (2) the company may have good quality pearls but knows nothing about good quality stringing. Either way, the poor quality stringing

job equates to poor quality pearls in my book. And as we move on I think you will better understand why.

At left you see what was advertised as a "beautiful strand of black, white and grey pearls". But what else do you see? No knots between the pearls. This means that it won't take wearing these but a few times and these pearls will start damaging each other due to rubbing against each other. The pearls do look nice. And the price was pretty good. But either this seller is a total pearl novice, or else he thinks you are. Either way this necklace is going to be damaged in a very, very short period of time. And....it will be damaged beyond repair. Unless you are an oyster, you cannot repair a pearl.

Stringing

There is a common misconception that the only purpose of the knots between the pearls in a necklace....is to keep all of the pearls from being lost in the event that the string breaks.

This is only a very small part of the story.

While the knots do keep the pearls from all sliding off the string in the event of a break, in realty those knots do much more, and they have to be done properly to accomplish their task. This is why pearl stringing is an art all to itself. First rate pearl stringers can make some seriously good money, because the knots actually protect the pearls from damage, and you have to be a good stringer to accomplish that task..

First, pearls should be strung with silk. Mainly because it is strong and will not stretch. Nylon and other materials will stretch when worn for a short while, or when they get wet. Silk will not. This is why fine quality pearls will always be strung on silk.

Second, the knots must be tight between the pearls. This will make the strand so tight that the pearls cannot rub against each other while being worn. If the knots are too loose, the pearls will be able to rub against each other and cause damage. Another problem with loose knots is that they have a tendency to twirl around the pearl drill hole, and rather than the other pearls doing it...the knots themselves do the damage. Below is an image of just that case. The first is a 10x photograph of 2 pearls with a very loose knot in between. You can see that the drill hole of the pearl on the right has been widened. But let's look a bit closer...

Below we see the real situation. The loose knot has actually reamed out the nacre layer from the starter bead. Not only tearing away at the nacre layer, but causing permanent damage to the pearl that cannot be repaired. And why? Simply because either someone did not string the pearls correctly, or else the owner wore the pearls until the knots became weak and loosened up, allowing the loose knot to ream away at the drill hole and do this damage.

This is why it is important to get pearls restrung about every two years....not every twenty like most people do. In fact, most consumers think that you don't need to restring until the old string breaks. But I think you can see above that a faulty or worn out string can do far more damage than one breaking and allowing the pearls to fall on the floor.

This is an important point for jewelers who sell pearls. No only should you make this information very clear to your new customers, you should also keep a customer pearl purchase file and let your customer know when it's time to have that nice strand of pearls restrung. It will keep them coming back to see you, and you will be doing them a service in protecting their investment in fine quality pearl jewelry.

French Wire

One quick note about French Wire. The ends of the pearl string that goes around the clasp is the place that takes the most wear and tear. And simply stringing the silk around the loop of the clasp is not good enough, because it allows for undue wear, tear, and strain on the silk thread. To avoid that you should always require that your pearls be strung with French Wire. This is simply a piece of coiled metal that makes a shaft for the silk to go into the loop around the clasp ring. This will not only look more professional, but help maintain the safety of the necklace for a much longer period of time. In fact, if I don't see French Wire on a strand of pearls...I know that I either have a stringer not worth their salt, or a cheap strand of pearls. Here is a picture of French Wire and what it does for a strand of pearls. You can see how the insert of this clasp could easily wear out and cut the silk in a short period of time without the French Wire. Everyone take careful note of this.

Pearl Necklace Lengths

Just like cut gemstones, pearl necklaces come in standardized sizes. Not only because these lengths are considered to be the most often requested by consumers...but because you can generally get an even division of pearl strands into the total length of these necklace lengths. This allows you to save costs of having to buy odd strands to make odd sizes of necklaces. It does not always work out this way, but more often than not you will find that using these lengths for your finished product will save you from having a lot of piece-meal pearl strands sitting around your desk.

Here are the generally accepted, standard lengths. But please note that these can vary based on sources and companies.

Choker: 14 to 16 inches depending on the wearer's neck size. The choker length should fall just to the bottom of the neck where the shoulders meet. Not too tight but at the very bottom of the neck.

Princess: 17 to 19 inches, again depending on the wearer's neck size. This length is good for high necklines...or low necklines. This is probably the most popular length since it can go with many different styles of clothing.

Matinee: 20 to 24 inches. This length is often seen with business attire since it is long enough to accommodate multiple collars and a variety of clothing styles sometimes required for business dress.

Opera: 28 to 36 inches. This length is the most versatile. There are things called pearl shorteners that allow for opera length necklaces to be doubled into double strand necklaces of shorter length. They can be tied as a bolero. And there are things called hidden clasps that allow you to string a 7 inch pearl bracelet and a 21 inch pearl necklace in such a manner that they can be combined for an opera length necklace, or taken apart and worn separately.

The art of pearl stringing is a study all its own. In fact, many schools have special courses just on pearl stringing. If you are interested in pearl stringing there are always openings for good pearl stringers in the jewelry industry, and you are urged to continue with your study with one of those courses.

Caring For Your Pearls

There are a few more points about caring for your pearls. You must remember that once pearls are damaged, they cannot be repaired. A chipped diamond can be recut. A ding in a gold bracelet can be polished out. But once they are dinged or damaged, pearls cannot be repaired. So you only have one chance to take care of them.

As we covered above, proper stringing with the right products will greatly reduce the danger of damaging pearls. But there are a few other things that we should note before going on to the identification of pearls and their imitators:

• Pearls are porous, which means that oils and lotions and perfumes will penetrate them. So be sure to minimize their exposure to perfumes and sweat. They will soak it up, and it cannot be removed.

• WHATEVER YOU DO.....DO NOT SPRAY YOUR HAIR with hairspray after you put your pearls on. Put them on after you use that hair spray or gel. Hair spray and gels are lacquers that coat the pearl. And once you have lacquered them up a few times, they start to look yellow. Which is why many family pearl heirlooms have that yellow tint. Its because Grandmother always waited until the last moment to spray her hair..including already having her pearls on. And over a period of time that hair spray turned the pearls yellow. And yes, once again, they cannot be repaired.

• Do not wear your pearls into the swimming pool. Yes, they were made in the ocean. But that ocean did not have cup fulls of chlorine dumped into it every day. Well, some of the oceans are getting pretty polluted, but not to the extent of the chlorine levels in a swimming pool or hot tub. And for that matter, no jewelry should be worn in a swimming pool or hot tub. Chlorine is pretty nasty stuff to any type of jewelry.

• Clean your pearls with a damp cloth and nothing more. They should not need anything more if you are taking the above precautions.

• And finally, get your pearls restrung every two years...whether you think they need it or not. The damage that loose knots do to pearls, and allow pearls to do to each other, cannot be seen without magnification...until its too late. Because once you can see that damage with the unaided eye, the pearls are usually ruined.

The study of pearls is one of the largest areas of study in gemology. There is far more than we can cover here, mainly because it is a market that is ever changing and evolving. But there is one more section on pearls that we need to study to lay the foundation of our pearl education. That section covers how to identify the types of pearls, and how to distinguish real pearls from pearl imitations.

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