When I posted a photo of the double strand of pearls I inherited from my grandmother in law--Angie liked the double strand. She said that made them less matronly. I tend to agree with that statement as well. But nothing is stopping you from wearing them at the same time now. I think I read once that pearls are like silver...wearing them is actually good for the pearls.

Mikimoto pearls are excellent pearls, from what I've heard. Very expensive and very high quality. I think it would be a shame to keep them hidden away only to be taken out for special occasions. I know people who do this because they don't want them to get ruined, but I think if you're careful that wearing them a lot would be wonderful. Plus, it sounds like they have a lot of good feelings and memories attached to them, so every time you wore them you could think of those things.

I'm not sure what you should do with them exactly though, since I'm no pearl expert. I'll let the other pearl wearing ladies and Angie give you advice about that. But I say go for it--wear them!

Mikimoto pearls are the best there are. How big are the pearls in diameter?

The pearls are a quarter inch in diameter in the middle of the strand and they get smaller as they go towards the clasp. One strand is 20 inches long layed out with the clasp open, and the other is 18 and a half inches.
They're so pretty. I got them out of the safe to measure them.
I suppose I never warmed up to wearing pearls much because I think of June Cleaver and remember I was a teenager during the hippie era.

Hmmmm. My suggestion is two re-attach the double strand, shorten the length and re-attach the clasp. Keep the vintage statement but add a modern dimension.

They sound beautiful!

Thankyou Angie.