I use a lot of dyed fresh water pearls in my jewelry. A customer who
bought a bracelet last August contacted me to complain that the
pearls had faded and become dull-looking so she came over to show me
the bracelet. The good news: she loves the bracelet, hardly ever
takes it off, wears it in the shower, etc. The bad news: the bright
green, purple, gold, and reddish pearls are noticeably duller than
before and don’t look nearly as good as when it was purchased. While
I’m glad that she loves it so much, I was thinking that pearls were
never meant to take such a beating (constant wear and showers). So I
replaced the pearls and said if it continues to happen, I will be
glad to do so once/year (she says she gets lots of compliments on it
so I sent her away with a stack of my cards too Last August, I
also made a necklace using the same variety of pearls. I’ve been
wearing it occasionally (probably about once every two weeks) and
realize now that they have faded too, although not as severely (I use
no hair sprays or perfumes and do not wear it that much and certainly
not in the shower but I did wear it to some outdoor shows where I was
wearing sunscreen). So here’s my question: is there any kind of
sealant or coating I could apply to the pearls to prevent this
fading? I’m thinking it might be hard to spray something on pearls
without marring their beautiful “pearly” finish – has anyone else
done this with satisfactory results? Does anyone know if exposure to
light could speed this process? If so, I could customers to store
them in a dark place (that sounds silly but if it was effective, they
would probably do it).
For those interested in seeing the bracelet in question:
http://www.borntobeworn.com/images/big/Confetti_pearl_bracelet_curved.jpg
(this is the “before” picture – I didn’t take one of the faded
version before I took it apart to replace the dull pearls).
Any ideas would be appreciated. While I don’t sell high-volumes of
anything, I’m concerned that my pieces are possibly going to look
dull after a year of wear (definitely a BAD thing).
Thanks, Elizabeth
www.borntobeworn.com