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Recently, I bought a pearl necklace that was 40cm long. Wanting a choker, I thought about shortening it. The jeweler offered to reduce it to 36cm for €60. I gave it some thought and decided to do it myself. In fact, pearl necklaces need to be re-strung every 2 years or so because they are strung with silk thread, which can wear out over time. This is a useful skill for anyone who owns pearl necklaces, so I’m going to teach you how to string a pearl necklace.
You will need:
- Pearls
- Silk thread. Depending on the hole size of the pearls, you’ll choose thicker or thinner thread. Personally, I use size #4 thread for pearls with a 4.5mm diameter. The silk thread I recommend comes with a beading needle already attached. You can find it at Cockson Clal. No. 1 is the thinnest. So if you have even smaller pearls, buy a matching silk thread accordingly.
- A clasp
- Crimp beads (to lock the pearls in place and secure the clasp)
- Scissors
- Flat-nose pliers (to flatten the crimp beads)
- Tweezers (to help tie knots between pearls)
- A small needle (for making knots between the pearls)
For the clasp, the images below are from the book いちばんていねいな ビーズ教室, but you don’t need to understand Japanese — the images are self-explanatory.
It’s possible to string the pearls without knotting in between, but I strongly recommend doing the knots. It secures the necklace better — if the thread breaks, the knots will hold the pearls in place and you’ll only lose one pearl instead of the whole strand.
If your pearls are large and have big holes, you can use the method shown here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DG5gp36J4EO/
But if, like me, you have small pearls, then here is the method I use. It’s beginner-friendly — a bit slow, but reliable for good results on your first try:
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