Even the most carefully made jewelry sometimes needs a little repair. Maybe you caught your 貝殻ブレスレット (shell bracelet) on something, a clasp came loose, or a piece was passed down and has seen many years of love.

Niʻihau shell jewelry (ニイハウシェル ジュエリー) is delicate — not because it’s fragile, but because it’s real. These are natural shells, hand-poked and strung with aloha. Every piece carries not just beauty, but history.

➡️ You can also read my full guide here: Caring for Niʻihau Shell Jewelry

What Kind of Repairs Can Be Done?

Over the years, I’ve repaired many ハワイアンジュエリー (Hawaiian jewelry) pieces — some of my own, some for customers who bought from me long ago, and even a few heirlooms gifted to new owners.

Common repairs include:

• Replacing broken or missing shells
• Re-stringing sections that came loose
• Fixing or replacing a clasp
• Matching the original color pattern as closely as possible

I always try to restore the piece with respect to its original design. And if it wasn’t created by me, I take extra time to understand how it was made before touching anything. These shells are too special for shortcuts.

✨ My personal repair standard:

Some people don’t mind fixing just one loose section, but for me it doesn’t work that way. When only one section is repaired, it looks brand new — which makes the rest of the lei look older and worse in comparison.

If the whole lei is restrung at the same time, everything ages together and stays even. But if just one part is new, the difference stands out in a bad way.

That’s why, if I decide to take on a repair, I prefer to re-string the entire piece so it looks balanced and beautiful again. It’s not that I want to charge more or create extra work — in fact, I can hardly keep up with orders as it is. For me, it’s about standards. Whenever I accept a repair, I have to do it the right way, or I won’t take the job at all. My name and reputation are attached to that piece forever, and I want it to show the same level of care and aloha as when I create something new.

The Truth About Repairs

Here’s the truth: I love creating more than repairing — and here’s why.

Repairs may look simple from the outside, but once you begin, they reveal all kinds of hidden challenges. Photos don’t always show how tight or loose the stringing is. A customer might say, “It’s a 30-inch lei,” but once re-strung tightly, it could end up only 25 inches — and that difference becomes my responsibility to solve. Even giving a fair price can be difficult when so many details are unknown.

Sometimes the original piece was made with imperfect shells, or the stringing material is nearly impossible to remove without breaking them. I’ve spent hours carefully undoing knots, redoing sections, and replacing shells just to bring the piece back up to my standards.

And when it’s someone else’s design? That can be even harder. I hold very high expectations for shell quality, color matching, and uniformity. When I create from the beginning, I can control all of those things. With repairs, you never really know what you’ll discover until you start taking it apart.

But here’s the beautiful side: if you’re patient and pay attention, repairs can teach you so much. You see how another artist poked their shells, tied their rows, or matched their sizes. Each piece — whether a 貝殻ピアス (shell earring) or lei — holds hidden lessons, waiting for the right hands to uncover them.

And when the repair is finally done… it feels like magic.
The lei comes back to life. The shells get a second chance. And the owner — the person who treasures that jewelry — gets to wear it again with joy. That moment makes every bit of effort worth it.

Repairs Aren’t Always Simple

Most people think repairing ニイハウシェル jewelry just means patching one section. But that’s not always the case.

For example: if a few shells break off a bracelet, you might think I can just fix that spot. But if the bracelet was made with one continuous string, the entire piece may need to be re-strung from the beginning.

Other times, it’s not only about re-stringing. I may also need to:

• Replace or match missing shells
• Adjust the pattern to keep symmetry
• Replace or update the clasp
• Extend or shorten the length
• Rebuild the piece to its original shape if the string stretched or changed

In the end, repairing often takes as much time, care, and focus as creating a brand-new ハワイアンジュエリー piece. The only difference is that I don’t need to poke every single shell again.

A Note About Repairs

If you have Niʻihau shell jewelry (ニイハウシェル ジュエリー) that needs repair, you’re always welcome to reach out — especially if it’s something I created. Since I know the technique, materials, and design choices, I’m happy to restore my own pieces back to life.

For jewelry I didn’t create, I ask for your understanding. Repairs can be very complex. Sometimes the materials are too difficult to remove, the technique doesn’t match mine, or the shells aren’t uniform in size or quality. These things are hard to see from a photo, and I want to be sure that any repair I take on meets my high standards of workmanship.

Because of this, I may not be able to accept every repair request — especially for jewelry not made by me. Please don’t take it personally. It’s never about not wanting to help; it’s about giving each piece the time and care it deserves.

My heart will always be in creating new ハワイアンジュエリー pieces, one by one, with love. But when I can, I will happily give your cherished jewelry a little aloha to help it shine again.

With aloha,
Janjira

➡️ In our next blog, I’ll answer another one of the most common questions I hear: “Do you collect your own shells?”