Perhaps most care is required in the handling of the pearl. Boiling, for example, is almost sure to loosen any pearls in a jewel. All chemicals are to be avoided.
For casual cleaning, a pearl necklace may be wiped with a clean and slightly damp cloth. It should not be pulled; the best way is to roll it on a towel.
If the necklace becomes too wet, the string may become loosened. A pearl necklace, indeed, should be regularly restrung; there is little sense in waiting until it breaks. When the knots near the clasp of the necklace have become grey, restringing time has come.
One must be careful not to put perfume, or any liquid containing alcohol, on, or close to, pearls. They may lose their lustre, or even start to peel.
At the hairdresser’s, pearls should of course be removed before any treatment. The heat of the dryer, for example, may loosen the pearls in their settings.
Reminders
Some of the things in this chapter I have already said; this is a time for reminders. And one important reminder is that, even if the front pearls are strung without knots—and they will be more lustrous if thus close together—a few pearls on each side of the clasp should always be knotted. That is the danger spot for breaks.
Another helpful reminder is that elaborate jewels may be made with removable or convertible parts. I have discussed in detail how a very formal jewel, likely to be worn on rare occasions, may be so fashioned that, in various smaller units, it can be enjoyed more freely and frequently.
And just one more reminder—about the necklace clasp. A colored stone, such as an emerald or a ruby, may highlight a necklace of pearls. Or the clasp may be of a single pearl, encircled by marquise or baguette diamonds. But here is the place to enshrine that still precious but “grown too small” engagement ring: make the engagement diamond the chief stone in the necklace clasp. And of course something suitable must come for that empty space next to the wedding band!