I’ve been wearing these new-to-me pearl bracelets non-stop since unwrapping them on Christmas Day, and wanted to share the “duh” moment I had recently that made them wearable. These used to measure 7″ in length, which just slipped right off my hand. Now they measure 6″ in length, and fit perfectly on my wrist. All they needed were a little bit of alterations…
One of these bracelets has been sitting in my jewelry box for literally years. I would pull it out every now and then, thinking I could just wear it very carefully, but as soon as I relaxed my arm, it would slip right off my hand. The last time this happened, I finally realized…”hey, I can just get a few of these pearls removed to make it smaller!” Duh! Why didn’t I think of that sooner?
So, here’s the “duh” moment: if bracelets are made of pieces, they can usually be made smaller for small wrists. Bracelets that are made of links, or in this case, pearls, can have some of those pieces removed for a better fit. With a few tools, many of these alterations can be made yourself, or you can visit a professional to have it done for a reasonable price.
In the case of these bracelets, six pearls were removed and the rest of the bracelet restrung by a professional in the Downtown Los Angeles jewelry district (great place to find quality jewelry or repairs for much less than retail stores if you live in Southern California). If you’re crafty, this can certainly be done yourself with some strong thread (usually silk for pearls), and the patience to knot the string after each individual pearl (this is done in case the strand breaks. If each pearl is individually knotted, you won’t have a mess of pearls rolling all over the place to get lost.). To get something like this professionally done, the usual price is somewhere between $2-$4 per inch of restringing, but varies by pearl size, city and shop. For a bracelet with links, jewelry pliers or a professional can usually remove a few links.
I asked my mom to check restringing prices during one of her frequent trips Downtown, and she surprised me this Christmas with not only my little bracelet shortened, but it’s twin sister that she found hanging out in the bottom of her jewelry box! Thanks mom! =)
So there you have it. A little reminder that not only clothing, but accessories can be altered for petite frames as well. My favorite sterling silver ball bracelet was shortened by me a few years ago, but I recently discovered it’s too-big-for-me sister in my jewelry box. Would anyone be interested in a “how I shortened my silver bracelets” post? Nevermind…just took a closer look and it’s a box chain underneath, and can’t be shortened without the ability to weld sterling silver back together. Darn!
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