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Your pearls are an important aspect of your everyday life. After all, they did cost you quite a small fortune to acquire and for most people, you may want them to last long enough to be passed down to your children. Therefore, it is very important that you properly care for your pearls. This is actually true for all your pieces of jewellery but pearls are special in the sense that they have been known to break and slip off the strand.
So how often should you restring the strand to prevent this? This is a common question and fortunately is very easy to answer.
Look at the knots
If you look at the strand very closely, you will notice tiny knots between each pearl. These knots are very important because they keep your pearls from slipping off the stands by preventing the strand from breaking or loosening. They are also instrumental in protecting the pearls from each other. This is because they keep the pearls from rubbing against one another and developing wear.
Therefore, these knots are what you should inspect regularly to know when to restring. Overtime, you may notice that they begin to darken. This is usually an indication that they are absorbing dirt, oils and moisture as you wear them. These micro particles can weaken the fibres of your strand and cause the pearls to slip off the strand. Darkened knots can also distract from the beauty of your pearls.
It is time to restring the necklace when the knots begin to fray and loosen. This darkening of the knots is the first sign that the strand needs to be replaced. This is why it is important to check the knots regularly to check the level of micro-particles accumulating on the knots.
When to restring your pearls
When you notice that the knots are beginning to fray and loosen, it is time to restring the pearls. The micro-particles that collect on the knot overtime can cause the strand to weaken. Fixing this anomaly before the strand can become too weak will prevent a situation where your pearls slip from the strand. This is important if you consider than it is one of the most common ways to lose some of your pearls.
You may also want to restring when you want to change the piece. It is not uncommon for you to want to totally reimagine your piece and restringing can help you do this. It is completely possible to add a totally new concept to your pearls. Maybe add a few beautiful gemstones and crystals or even update the pearls themselves. Restringing allows you to do this easily. Every couple of years, you can completely alter the design of your pearls by restringing.
Get it done professionally
It is not advisable to try and restring your pearls at home. You risk destroying them no matter how easy the how-to video made it look. The good news is that you can get your pearls restrung professionally at a reasonable rate. Most charge about $1 per knot making it very easy for you to figure out exactly how much you need to have the piece restrung. All you need to do is count the number of pearls to come up with the price.
In addition to restringing most experts will also offer to clean the pearls. This additional service is a great idea if your pearls happen to be older and have lost some of their shine. Restringing and cleaning your pearls is one of the ways you can turn your old pieces into great works of art.