Shorten My Necklace

Q: I received my 'freshadama' 7-8mm white necklace today, and the pearls are beautiful! However, I was already planning to have them resized to 17" (I waited since I didn't want to risk not liking the freshwaters). What would you charge to restring an 18" necklace to 17"? Also, do you re-string 3rd party necklaces (an 18" akoya I would like resized to 17")? Finally, the freshadamas have 2 pearls that are inappropriate for the strand. One that is rather smaller than neighbors and another that has a small dull spot where surface nacre did not form or has chipped. I would like those pearls removed. Would there be some way to mark those peals so that they would be included in the pearls remove to reduce by 1"? Or would it be easier to return the order, then order a 17" necklace and hope for the best. For the prices above, please include return shipping (back to me) by the least expensive means.

A: First of all I am so glad you like the pearls! These Freshadama pearls have created quite a buzz in the pearl market and we have been so pleased with the feedback.

We would be happy to restring the strand for you at 17” and remove those pearls you mentioned. There are a couple of ways to mark the pearls you would like removed, you can take a piece of tape or part of a mailing label for example, and wrap it around the individual pearls. Or, believe it or not, you can take a permanent marking pen like a Sharpie marker and make an X or some other demarcation on the pearl. This does not harm the pearl at all and does have the added advantage of not coming off easily in the shipping as sometimes happens with labels.

It’s also no problem for us to restring your other strand of pearls as well. This is a service we provide for any strands that need knotting, be they pearls, beaded pieces, cut gemstones. In the case of your Akoya strand that you want at 17”, we would include the loose pearls with the package. The restringing charge is $20.00 for a standard length and shipping via USPS Priority Mail is $6.50. Because there are two pearls that apparently should not have been in the freshadama strand, we will redo that one free of charge.

You can send us the package via any delivery service you prefer since we accept deliveries from USPS, USP, FedEx, DHL, etc. The total charge for restringing your two strands and shipping them back to you via Priority Mail will be $26.50.

Should you decide to send us your strands, please include all your contact information and a detailed description of what you would like done. We will then contact you for your credit card information or if you prefer, you may include a check or money order for the full amount.