can anyone tell me what these are?

[Rosomane]

Don't do that! If you do you will never know!!! Just find a digital camera with a macro lense and post the pictures here. Most jewelers cannot tell the difference between a dyed freshwater and a Tahitian. If you have an older or special strand, not one in a thousand jewelers will be able to tell you what it is. Jewelers are not pearlers. Jewelers do not know pearls. Is this a generalization? Yes, it is. But it covers well over 99% of the jewelers in the USA.

Ha ha ha! There is an itty bitty jewelry store in a shopping center where I do my grocery shopping and last week as I walked by I saw a strand of what I though were Tahitian pearls. The proprietor told me emphatically that they were not and he could show me their certificate to prove it, that they were South Sea pearls and if I wanted Tahitians he could get a strand in from his other store. Price on the SS strand was $4K, the Tahitian: $2K. The strand I saw was dark gray with bronze overtones, they might have been 9mm at best, probably a little smaller in diameter.
At a store in the mall, when I was admiring a strand of 10mm pink FW, I asked what kind of pearls they were and the nice lady answered "cultured."
Thanks so much for creating this forum, there a great need for it!