Good quality pearls can cost a bl*ody fortune as I found out. When my Mum passed away back in 1987 my Dad asked me to empty her wardrobe and drawers and I found a box with a broken string of pearls in it. I nearly put them in with the charity bag stuff but decided not to and asked my Dad about them. Dad said he thought my Mum had bought them sometime in the 1960`s but wasn`t sure and told me to either keep them or donate them. I kept them in a drawer and forgot about them.
Fast forward to my Dad passing away in 2003 and browsing through some old photos I noticed one of my Mum which was taken on her 21st birthday in the late 1930`s and she was wearing what looked to be the same pearls, she also seemed to be wearing them on her wedding photo taken in 1941 a few years later which made me realise they were much older than the 1960`s.
I dug out the pearls about 2 years ago and the clasp was broken as well as the string being in 2 pieces but each pearl had a knot between the next so thankfully none had been lost and through a magnifying glass I saw the brand name Mikimoto on the back of the clasp. I`d never heard of them but googled them and nearly had a heart attack at the price of them. I contacted them in London, sent a photo of the pearls, they said they would have to examine them to verify they weren`t fake or a copy but the genuine thing and they`d give me a price for a new clasp and restringing if they were genuine. It cost me nearly £600 to have a real Mikimoto clasp on them and restrung but they also gave me a valuation of £3,000 + for the pearls. They said looking at the original clasp that the pearls were dated around the 1930`s which fitted in with Mum perhaps getting them for her 21st birthday. I`ve still never worn them and if/when either of my granddaughters or if/when my youngest son marries his partner, then I`ll ask the bride of they`d like to wear them ? God knows what to do with them before I die because I only have the one string of them and 2 granddaughters plus 3 daughters in law or son`s partners. It`s a dilemma.
