I just recently replaced all of the pearl holders and pearls on a king Zephyr sax. The person that owned the sax played the daylights out of it and wore the pearls out an through half of the holder. This is not a job for the novice. Done incorrectly, it will look like crap, much worse than if you had just stripped the keys and not worried about the stripper etching or doing anything to your pearls. I'd leave the pearls alone if I were you and not try to take them out. Stripping the keys won't hurt the pearls unless you let the keys swim in the stripper for a very long time.

THANKS !!