Pearl for everyday wear? Yay or Nay?

[tourmaline25]

I love to wear my pearls daily, they are too beautiful to just be kept in their box, they need to be worn! Just don't spray them with chemicals and you should be ok. I wouldn't necessarily be heading to Tiffany & Co for a bracelet though, you can find just as good quality pearls for more reasonable price if you look around. Maybe try out a pearl stretch bracelet to begin with before handing over large amounts of money, that way you can test the waters and not be out of pocket if you decide they aren't for you.

 

[summergal2121]

Just for fun... Here's my everyday 20 year old pearl bracelet next to a 20 year old watch.

The pearls have held up better than the watch.

View attachment 3469495

Your pearls are beautiful! Thank you for the picture!

 

[summergal2121]

How old was the SA that gave you all of the cautions and warnings? What nonsense. As an older woman who has worn pearls every day, practically from birth--pearls are meant to be worn. In fact, they need to be worn, and will gain luster from the oils of your skin. Just take the same care with them that you take with other fine jewelry. Will they scratch? Sure, but most gemstones will scratch. So will gold and silver.

I wouldn't play quarterback for the Cowboys in a pearl bracelet, and I take my pearls off when I shower (to add life to the string, not because water bothers the pearl) and when I'm working out, but beyond that, buy them, enjoy them and above all, wear them. They are just the sort of casual, elegant, understated jewelry that will make you stand out from the crowd. If you wear them daily, you'll want to have Tiffany & Co check them yearly to make sure the string is still strong, and you'll probably have to re-string them at least every 2 years.

The SA that gave me all the cautions and warnings was new- granted I have heard similar things by other older SAs but not as bluntly and OMG YOU SHOULD NEVER WEAR THEM as him.

ughhhhh I went with their amazonite bracelet instead but I definitely did prefer the pearls more ughhhhhh

 

[Molly0]

I feel compelled to share my experience with the stamina of pearls. I recently restrung an akoya pearl bracelet myself and had to redo it a second time. Well at the end, one of the pearls had a dab of crazy glue on it and I tried everything I could think of to remove it but had no luck. I searched the Internet and finally resorted to acetone. At first I dabbed carefully, then tried applying more and more, but to no avail. Well in the end I resorted to soaking the darn thing in the acetone! For quite a long time too! That pearl is still beautiful, perfect and totally undamaged! That nacre is much tougher than I ever would have thought!

 

[JenW]

I feel compelled to share my experience with the stamina of pearls. I recently restrung an akoya pearl bracelet myself and had to redo it a second time. Well at the end, one of the pearls had a dab of crazy glue on it and I tried everything I could think of to remove it but had no luck. I searched the Internet and finally resorted to acetone. At first I dabbed carefully, then tried applying more and more, but to no avail. Well in the end I resorted to soaking the darn thing in the acetone! For quite a long time too! That pearl is still beautiful, perfect and totally undamaged! That nacre is much tougher than I ever would have thought!

Warm water and soap should remove super glue.

But you are right, they are tougher than they look.

 

[Pirard]

Freshwater pearls, unless bead nucleated, are solid nacre. In other words, there is no outer layer/coating to wear down and expose a shell bead. Freshwater pearls are very durable for everyday wear. They are not expensive and certainly not rare nor difficult to replace should they become damaged. I would not wear an akoya bracelet everyday, unless the nacre was very very thick.