Jewelry Stores Do More Than Just Sell Jewelry!

When I asked around about jewelry stores that were reputable and that might help me, one of the answers I got was about the place where a friend of ours worked. I had purchased what looked to be a nice set of black pearl jewelry at a thrift store in New York State and wasn’t sure if they were worth that much (if anything at all), and they definitely needed restringing. My question to my friend was: would it be worth it getting these pearls cleaned up and restrung or not? Hence the need for someone I could trust and who also knew at least a little about what to look for in the “real deal.” After all, I had forked out $60 for the set, which included a necklace and bracelet, so there was a little investment involved. Having a “friend in the business,” so to speak, I didn’t feel the need to inquire at any other jewelry stores about my pearls. When this friend waited on me, she held the pearls in her hands and eyed them up a bit and then said they looked like pretty good ones and upon closer examination said they were, indeed, died black pearls and would be worth around $200. She said if she were me she’d definitely have them re-strung, so I left them with her to get the job done. This was a learning experience for me as I didn’t know there was such a thing as dyed black pearls. And they do look like the “real deal” now that they’re all cleaned up and have a beautiful, new gold clasp on them. One of my next projects will be to go to other jewelry stores and see if they have anything in comparison to these beauties and how much they’re selling for.