My grandmother passed away 2 years ago. When she died, the only piece of her jewelry my uncle let me have was a pearl necklace my grandfather had given her. It is very important to me. Unfortunately, one of the strands broke when I was trying on gowns. Luckily, my bridesmaids who were with me were able to recover all the pearls. I took it in to a local jeweler to have re-strung. The lady gave me a nasty look and said "You know these aren't real, right?" Well, no, I didn't. But why does that matter? They were my grandmothers, and likely all my grandfather could afford at the time. And because they're both passed, I want to wear them.
Because of jeweler lady's bad attitude, I don't want to take them back there to have them cleaned. Because they're so old, they're a little dull. Reading online makes me scared to try to clean them myself, as they may dissolve in regular jewelry cleaner. Any ideas on how to clean them?
Thank you, in advance!