White/Milk Glass Jewellery

I love Milk Glass jewellery and have a huge collection.  It was most popular in the 50's and came out of mostly West Germany, Japan and from American costume designer Miriam Haskell. They are mostly found as necklaces in simple white round beads on either single or multiple strands sometimes with their own milk glass clasps, but also come in bracelets, earrings and brooches.

West German white glass also uses an art deco style and this is my personal favourite.  They also moulded the beads into many different shapes and combined colours with the traditional white.

Unfortunately they are often in not great condition when I find them :(  The cotton strings often corrode or weaken due to the edges of the beads and break easily, the metal used in clasps I find can turn a crusty green.  The Beads themselves can also turn brown from dust and sweat :P

I bought the necklaces above from a swap meat and the whole lot cost me $6 Aus (BARGAIN!!!).  But as you can see there's work involved lol . 

The very top necklace required soaking as the dust had hardened between the beads and needs restringing as the cotton was weak and stretched.  By soaking I mean I have a jar that I put water and about a teaspoon of Napisan Colour (a washing powder originally used for only nappies) it has a mild bleach that whitens the white beads and also will whiten discoloured cotton.  For restringing I love using upholstery thread as is strong and has a kind of sheen to it for easy sliding.

Before you take the necklace apart remember to take pictures and plenty of them to remember the design, even draw a  diagram to help you remember. I am a beader so the weaving they use is something I am used to, but for a beginner - take note of everything!!!!!!!

Another tip is: if you find bags like the one above, grab it!!!!!!! There will always be necklaces like the one at the bottom left, where there will be beads missing.  Bags of bits may just contain the magic missing beads :D  More about restoring coming soon!