pearls everyday

I made a watch band using freshwater pearls (irregularly shaped, bronzy
& dark grey/silver), glass beads, and seed beads in between. It turned
out nicely, I thought. But when I went to put on my watch today, I
thought about the sunscreen I had already applied, and wondered if the
pearls were a mistake for a watch I want to wear every day. Will the
pearls tend to absorb any sunscreen or body lotion that I have put on,
and become discoloured or otherwise spoiled?

Did I make a mistake? Should I restring, substituting other beads for
the pearls?

Or would wiping them after every wearing with a damp cloth be okay?

TIA for your help.

In article ,
says...

I made a watch band using freshwater pearls (irregularly shaped, bronzy
& dark grey/silver), glass beads, and seed beads in between. It turned
out nicely, I thought. But when I went to put on my watch today, I
thought about the sunscreen I had already applied, and wondered if the
pearls were a mistake for a watch I want to wear every day. Will the
pearls tend to absorb any sunscreen or body lotion that I have put on,
and become discoloured or otherwise spoiled?

Did I make a mistake? Should I restring, substituting other beads for
the pearls?

Or would wiping them after every wearing with a damp cloth be okay?

Since no one more knowledgeable has responded, I'll take a cut at this. I would
think that if you cleaned the band with a damp cloth after wearing it when
you've put on lotion or sunscreen, it would probably be okay. With lotion in
particular, if you can put it on far enough ahead of when you put the watch on
that it's completely absorbed into the skin, it shouldn't be any worse on the
pearls than your natural skin oils. Sunscreen is iffier, but it's not that much
different from lotion, I would think. But I am NOT an expert on this, I'm just
making my best guess.

Celine (p&e)

--
Handmade jewelry at http://www.rubylane.com/shops/starcat
"Only the powers of evil claim that doing good is boring."
-- Diane Duane, _Nightfall at Algemron_

I had an experience with sunscreen & jewelry this weekend, so I'll jump in here
too. Plus it concerns the optician's lenses we just bought, so might be of
interest to others.

Sunscreen does sit on the skin more than regular lotions because of some of the
sunblocks used -- they're meant to be barriers, not sink in, so they just perch
on your epidermis. I smear it on myself, all over, every damn day, whether I'm
going to be inside or outdoors. I'm 48, and I'm not very wrinkly or saggy, and
I credit my sunscreen use with my skin's appearance (gratefully). So I
recommend it, and wouldn't skip it to save my jewelry.

However -- On Saturday I wore my optician's lens pendant all day and evening,
and I had a good dose of sunscreen on my chest and collarbone. It started
softening the acrylic medium that sealed my pendant! It was icky! I worried
about the pendant's picture -- I'm now convinced that I'll have to replace it
eventually. It was really warm Saturday so I was a little moist myself, which
exacerbated the situation. I'd think that pearls might be affected similarly
(though of course they're not paper).

Anyone doing the optician's lens pendants -- since they're not two-sided glass,
like the microscope slides -- seal the back of your lens-collage with
Envirotech (or is it Envirotex? --I can never remember ). Or use multiple
coats of flectovarathane, or some similar product. Experiment with your paper
first, so you're sure the papers won't bleed through from the sealant (thus
ruining your piece). A coating or two of acrylic medium is NOT enough -- the
pendant will disintegrate from body oils and beauty products. Use glues with a
similar attitude if you are gluing stuff onto these pendants -- E6000, Gorilla
Glue, etc.

But when I went to put on my watch today, I
thought about the sunscreen I had already applied, and wondered if the pearls
were a mistake for a watch I want to wear every day. Will the
pearls tend to absorb any sunscreen or body lotion that I have put on,
and become discoloured or otherwise spoiled?

Since no one more knowledgeable has responded, I'll take a cut at this. I
would
think that if you cleaned the band with a damp cloth after wearing it when
you've put on lotion or sunscreen, it would probably be okay. With lotion in
particular, if you can put it on far enough ahead of when you put the watch on
that it's completely absorbed into the skin, it shouldn't be any worse on the
pearls than your natural skin oils. Sunscreen is iffier, but it's not that
much
different from lotion, I would think. But I am NOT an expert on this, I'm
just
making my best guess.

Celine (p&e)


~~
Sooz
-------
Let the beauty we love be what we do. --Rumi
I'm not a hamster, and life's not a wheel. --Sooz
~ Dr. Sooz's Bead Links
http://airandearth.netfirms.com/soozlinkslist.html

I'm not an expert either, and haven't done a lot with pearls, but always
thought you weren't suppose to wear pearl rings, unless they were a special
occasion kind of thing, and you only wore them occasionaly. I thought
pearls were really for necklaces or bracelets or earrings because washing
your hands would take the luster off the pearl. I think I'd be reluctant to
make a pearl watchband that I'd wear everyday.

--
Jerri
www.beadbimbo.com

To subscribe to the Beadbimbo mailing list, send a blank email to:


"iKitty" wrote in message
...
I made a watch band using freshwater pearls (irregularly shaped, bronzy
& dark grey/silver), glass beads, and seed beads in between. It turned
out nicely, I thought. But when I went to put on my watch today, I
thought about the sunscreen I had already applied, and wondered if the
pearls were a mistake for a watch I want to wear every day. Will the
pearls tend to absorb any sunscreen or body lotion that I have put on,
and become discoloured or otherwise spoiled?

Did I make a mistake? Should I restring, substituting other beads for
the pearls?

Or would wiping them after every wearing with a damp cloth be okay?

TIA for your help.

On 18 Aug 2003 21:13:16 GMT, uppies (Dr. Sooz)
wrote:

Anyone doing the optician's lens pendants -- since they're not two-sided glass,
like the microscope slides -- seal the back of your lens-collage with
Envirotech (or is it Envirotex? --I can never remember ).

Sooz, thanks for the heads-up. I really appreciate the FYI, since all
I know about them is what little they've been batted around here, and
the links that you've suggested.

Jewitch

BTW, there is a package sitting on my desk, next to my moniter,
calling my name. Unfortunately, hubby won't be home until about 9:30,
and he asked that I not open it until he got home.

uppies (Dr. Sooz) wrote:

I had an experience with sunscreen & jewelry this weekend, so I'll jump in
here
too. Plus it concerns the optician's lenses we just bought, so might be of
interest to others.
.... snip ...
However -- On Saturday I wore my optician's lens pendant all day and evening,
and I had a good dose of sunscreen on my chest and collarbone. It started
softening the acrylic medium that sealed my pendant! It was icky! I worried
about the pendant's picture -- I'm now convinced that I'll have to replace it
eventually. It was really warm Saturday so I was a little moist myself,
which
exacerbated the situation.

.... rest of interesting story snipped ...

Thank you for writing. Now that you mention it, I have had a similar
experience with sunscreen and clear plastic. I scraped the last of a
bottle of sunscreen into a small pillbox container, and the sunscreen
really chewed up the plastic bottom. The plastic's surface is rough &
irregular, and the plastic is cloudy. Powerful stuff, sunscreen!!!

Thank you to everybody who responded to my post. Looks like my choices
are
1. restring with glass & metal beads only
2. wear my watch mostly in winter; if in summer, late in the day

The irregularity of the pearls contrast nicely with the rectangular
glass beads, but I felt, even with the band only half-finished, that it
looked "too Neiman Marcus" (dressy) for every day. I think that it's
the pearls that do that, because pearls are delicate.

So, a reason to look at more beads! Thanks again to everyone who
responded!

In article ,
says...

Thank you to everybody who responded to my post. Looks like my choices
are
1. restring with glass & metal beads only
2. wear my watch mostly in winter; if in summer, late in the day

The irregularity of the pearls contrast nicely with the rectangular
glass beads, but I felt, even with the band only half-finished, that it
looked "too Neiman Marcus" (dressy) for every day. I think that it's
the pearls that do that, because pearls are delicate.

So finish it anyhow, and make it your "special occasion" watch, and then make
another one for everyday! See how simple that was? g

Celine

--
Handmade jewelry at http://www.rubylane.com/shops/starcat
"Only the powers of evil claim that doing good is boring."
-- Diane Duane, _Nightfall at Algemron_

One thing to remember, if you're making pearl bracelets that get a lot of wear
(like watches) -- Swarovski pearls are really really TOUGH. They can be
lotioned and perfumed!
~~
Sooz
-------
Let the beauty we love be what we do. --Rumi
~ Dr. Sooz's Bead Links
http://airandearth.netfirms.com/soozlinkslist.html
~ Bead Notes: Beading information A through Z
http://www.lampwork.net/beadnotes.html

What is it? It's not the one from me, with the lenses -- is it? Eeek!

BTW, there is a package sitting on my desk, next to my moniter,
calling my name. Unfortunately, hubby won't be home until about 9:30,
and he asked that I not open it until he got home.


~~
Sooz
-------
Let the beauty we love be what we do. --Rumi
~ Dr. Sooz's Bead Links
http://airandearth.netfirms.com/soozlinkslist.html
~ Bead Notes: Beading information A through Z
http://www.lampwork.net/beadnotes.html