People might think I make myself a lot of jewelry because I'm a jewelry designer and maker. But truth be told, I don't often do that because I'm too busy creating for my clients.
On the rare occasion when I do make myself a piece of jewelry, it's usually from:
A. A special gemstone I've saved for myself, or
B. Something from the Irene's-WTF-learning-moments screwup bin.
This 14k gold and pearl ring is a perfect example of option B.
A few years back, I was making my mother-in-law a pair of pearl earrings for her 75th birthday (or was it her 80th? Maybe it was her 50th anniversary.) ANYWAY, I bought all the materials I needed and got a very nice pair of Japanese Akoya pearls.
When I was getting ready to set the pearls, I realized the pre-drilled holes on the pearls were too small.
No problems! I got a pair of pearl-holding tweezers. I'll use it to hold the pearls while I drill the holes bigger. Mind you, this was the first time i drilled pearl. I looked at enough videos, "I've got this!"
So I got on my goggles, the correct size drill bit, the pearl, and a bowl of water (to submerge the tweezers and the pearl into during drilling to prevent overheating).
Oh, and finally THE TWEEZERS.
I bought this pair of tweezers for $5. As you can see from the photo, they have paddle-like tips that are concave to hold a pearl. They also have this red coating to prevent marring or scratching to the pearls.
So everything is in place. I held the pearl tightly in the tweezers in the water and my drill ready. I started the drill and slowly lowering it down to the pre-drilled hole on the pearl. But instead of enlarging the hole on the pearl, the drill bit caught the pearl and "took it for a spin", LITERALLY! And I mean like a thousand spins!!!!!
Ahhhhhhh..........
For the split second that it was spinning, it was enough to create friction and heat, and melted the coating on the dang tweezers down to bare metal! 😱 As the pearl was spinning, the tweezers scraped ridges on the middle third of my "beautiful" pearl! The ridges looked like those you'd see on hand-spun pottery.
Ridges look fine in hand-spun pottery. THEY DO NOT LOOK FINE in a freaking expensive saltwater cultured Japanese Akoya pearl! 🤬🤬🤬
"W-T-F?" I screamed!
Maybe I should have used a smaller drill bit first?
Maybe I didn't hold the pearl tight enough?
Maybe it was Mercury retrograde?
Maybe because this was a project for my mother-in-law !? OR
Maybe I SHOULDN'T HAVE BOUGHT THOSE SH*TTY $5 TWEEZERS.
I don't recall the choice string of four-letter words I used but I'm sure I use them colorfully. Needless to say, I cannot use the "hand-spun" pearl for the earrings but I'm not going to throw it away either. So I put it in a little plastic baggie and figure I'll deal with it later. I did purchase another pair of pearl to finished off the earrings 🙄
See the ridges above ⬆️
Well, fast forward a few years, I finally got around to "deal" with THE pearl. I decided to design it into a ring since the ridges are only on the "belly" of the pearl, and the top is still very smooth and lustrous.
It turned out beautifully, and I have a good story to go with it. The thing is, I don't think anyone would have noticed the ridges on the pearl unless they are looking for it.
I actually love it more. I'm all into the not-so-perfect-yet-still-beautiful-and-unusual gemstones anyway. I guess it was meant to be.
Moral of the story:
- Sh*t happens.
- Curse or throw something around like I did if you need to.
- Learn from the mistake and put it behind you (or in a bin).
- One day, you might remember it and create something beautiful from it, even better than the original plan.
- Oh, and most importantly, don't buy cheap shitty tweezers 😁
By the way, if you love this ring design, I would love to make you your own. It will be with a lovely smooth and lustrous pearl. If you would like a hand-spun pearl like mine, I'd have to charge extra! It's a BSD exclusive, you know, LOL!
LOL, love this story! I am glad you made one for you!!!