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Sure looks like a rock.

Having seen more photos and having read the backstory of these pearls, I think they are cultured freshwater pearls from China. These are solid nacre-- there is no bead inside to make them round. If you want to restring them, it would not be hard to do that. Here is my tutorial...

Can you give us more information? What is the size? Where did you get it? Do you have more of them, or is it just this one drilled pearl?

A lot of women of previous generations wore fake pearls, proudly. Sometimes they didn't even know they were fake. My father in law gave a pearl necklace to my MIL-- both of them thought the pearls were real, as did the whole family. Only after they passed did I get to see them close up. Fake...

They did help, but sad to say, they are fake. This photo in particular was particularly helpful. They can still be a sentimental strand to clean up and wear! I have a restringing tutorial that is a sticky on the Lowly Beaders Club section of the forum if you wish to do that.

I have personally never found imitation pearls to feel like real pearls when rubbed together, not even the very high end Majorica brand imitation pearls. Imitation pearls made with glass or plastic beads are also warmer than real pearls. The temperature difference can be felt when they are held...

Real pearl nacre should feel a bit gritty when pearls are gently rubbed against each other (don't rub hard enough to make dust)! But sometimes people mistake what they are feeling. Fake pearls can feel a bit resistant when rubbed together if they are grimy. In any case you won't get the...

I think they may be imitation.

I'm leaning that way too but I don't want to call it without more photos.

They could be akoyas or they could be imitations-- I can't tell because the first few photos are out of focus. Please take better photos of the entire strand and a few more close-ups, including close ups of any flaws you see in the surface of the pearls. If there are any areas where the pearly...

That is a nice wearable size.

I would say yes, freshwaters.

"Orbit" clasps are also knowns as interlock clasps (see Bella Findings) or sometimes interlocking oval (or round) clasps. The silver ones I have are rhodium plated to prevent tarnishing.

@nacre_newbie, Glad you didn't overpay for them. :) If you wish to take the CPAA's "Pearls As One" course, I'll send you a code to take it for free. Check your messages. www.pearlsasone.org

They look like dyed bead nucleated Chinese freshwater pearls from around 2010 or thereabouts. The Chinese were aiming for the high quality Edison pearls you see today but along the way they produced these pearls with a lot of flaws. I saw a lot of low quality bead nuked pearls with wrinkly...

The male part of the clasp had to be squeezed together and inserted into the other part, and it would spring apart to close. But the weight of the pearls was too much for it. I changed the clasp and no longer have that one. This is a photo of the necklace as it was then: I added a safety...

That is a good question, and I could see where they might not fit together if made by different manufacturers. (I'm thinking about the bayonet mounts of camera lenses being different from one manufacturer to another.)

Oh yes. I am aware of those kinds of clasps. A member of Pearl Guide, Anna Tabakhova, created one of those clasps and wrote a book on the history of clasps, a copy of which I own: https://www.pearl-guide.com/threads/pearls-and-clasps-in-clasps-4-000-years-of-fasteners-in-jewellery.10557/

I can't speak to the clasps other than to say that a safety clasp is best for pearls, IMO. Pearls are heavy and I once barely caught my baroque akoya pearls when the clasp they came with (which didn't have a safety feature) simply opened up, and they fell off my neck. Your 1st link, I agree...

I'm back to long sleeves as the weather cools again. It's a bit overcast, and I am wearing the 9.5-10.00mm baroque akoyas that I bought from PP back in 2015. I really love these. I wore them last night to the opening night of the season at the Goodspeed Opera House on the Connecticut River.