Restringing Mikimoto yourself

TPF may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others

#16
Mrs.Z said:
Does anyone know if Mikimoto will restring any pearls or only Mikimoto pearls? I have Assael Tahitians that I want to restring with diamond rondelles for added length. I emailed them and they never responded.
Click to expand...
I doubt it. It would be like asking VCA to extend a non-VCA necklace. The brands are not in the business for generic jewelry service & repairs. They only want to service their own brand. You can always go to your local jeweler to do this, but...

I have some thoughts if I may...
Since your necklace is Assael, if you get it altered by anyone else, it may void any warranties on your piece. Plus, your piece will no longer be an original Assael piece.

If you want to extend the length, I would suggest contacting Assael and request a custom change. If they will not add rondelles as that is not part of their product line for your strand, then plan B is to add more pearls to your existing necklace.

I mention this because I did this with one of my Mikimoto strands. My alteration was a bit more complex though.
Long story short, I had an 18" strand I never wore because I replaced it with another 18" strand of a larger pearl size.
Hmm... what to do with a strand one no longer needs? Make bracelets! :nuts::heart:
I sent my old strand to Mikimoto and asked them to make three 7" bracelets. This meant I needed 21" of matching pearls, so I was short 4". Mikimoto matched my pearls and added 4" of pearls. They also added the Mikimoto clasp and M charm.
It worked out great. I love my bracelets.

I just wanted to share this in case it might help in your decision of altering your strand.
You might love extending your pearl necklace with a few more matching pearls vs. adding rondelles which you may get tired of in a few years. For me, there's nothing like a strand of pure unadulterated glowy pearls.

Good luck to you.
 
  • Like
  • Love
  • Insightful
Reactions: etoupebirkin, Cool Breeze, shrpthorn and 4 others
#17
BigAkoya said:
I doubt it. It would be like asking VCA to extend a non-VCA necklace. The brands are not in the business for generic jewelry service & repairs. They only want to service their own brand. You can always go to your local jeweler to do this, but...

I have some thoughts if I may...
Since your necklace is Assael, if you get it altered by anyone else, it may void any warranties on your piece. Plus, your piece will no longer be an original Assael piece.

If you want to extend the length, I would suggest contacting Assael and request a custom change. If they will not add rondelles as that is not part of their product line for your strand, then plan B is to add more pearls to your existing necklace.

I mention this because I did this with one of my Mikimoto strands. My alteration was a bit more complex though.
Long story short, I had an 18" strand I never wore because I replaced it with another 18" strand of a larger pearl size.
Hmm... what to do with a strand one no longer needs? Make bracelets! :nuts::heart:
I sent my old strand to Mikimoto and asked them to make three 7" bracelets. This meant I needed 21" of matching pearls, so I was short 4". Mikimoto matched my pearls and added 4" of pearls. They also added the Mikimoto clasp and M charm.
It worked out great. I love my bracelets.

I just wanted to share this in case it might help in your decision of altering your strand.
You might love extending your pearl necklace with a few more matching pearls vs. adding rondelles which you may get tired of in a few years. For me, there's nothing like a strand of pure unadulterated glowy pearls.

Good luck to you.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice …..I would work with Assael but I’m not sure what is going on with them currently, they don’t seem to be operating. Their website has been under maintenance for a very long time.
 
  • Like
  • Sad
Reactions: A bottle of Red and BigAkoya
#22
Mrs.Z said:
I believe the company was sold and I’m not sure about anything else. I bought my pearls at Saks. Saks and NM no longer carry their pieces and not sure they are even producing anything right now. I absolutely loved their pieces!
Click to expand...
If you purchased your pearls at Saks, perhaps contact Saks Fine Jewelry & see if they can help you.
There are certainly other pearl vendors who restring pearl jewelry & if there is a charge they likely
could waive it, if you ask
 
#23
I would definitely send the Mikimoto pearls to Mikimoto for restringing. I have strung other pearls myself, and although the knotting is straightforward, it is hard to get it as tight as a professional. The clasp is another important part of the stringing process, as well as any cleaning of it and the pearls themselves.
 
  • Like
Reactions: shrpthorn and A bottle of Red
#24
Mrs.Z said:
I believe the company was sold and I’m not sure about anything else. I bought my pearls at Saks. Saks and NM no longer carry their pieces and not sure they are even producing anything right now. I absolutely loved their pieces!
Click to expand...
I believe that David Norman is the new owner,but I have no idea about contact details.
I’m sorry not to be of any more help..
 
#26
ILoveTooManyPurses said:
Did you send your pearls into Mikimoto? I called in January and was surprised that their prices were so reasonable! This is what I was quoted:
Restringing

-Up to 24” $160

-24” to 35” $200

-36”+ $300
Click to expand...
I once asked my local, non-Mikimoto jeweler prices for restringing pearls and was shocked at how inexpensive it was. I thought all that "by hand" labor would be through the roof. I guess if you know what you're doing it goes pretty fast.
 
#27
Welp. I have not sent the pearls to Mikimoto. Tiffany sends clients shipping label and I thought Mikimoto would do the same. I have to ship them myself. I wanted to insure them for current value but hubs said no, do purchase price. I told him if they got lost in the mail, it would be hard to swallow the price difference for a new strand.

An authorized dealer is 1.5hrs away. My local store closed so I didn’t know when we could drop it off. In the meantime I decided to knot them myself. If it’s ugly, we could have them professionally restrung in the future.

I ordered size 4 and 5 griffin silk thread which didn’t work out so I had to reorder size 1 and 2. Size 2 works and I wonder if 3 would too.

The second order of string arrived today and it took me almost 1 hr.

It’s not perfect but will hold off for now. MIL can enjoy her strand without the worry of breakage.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top