Weird pearls

[Long Potato]

I acquired this necklace and bracelet as part of an auction lot. The seller described them as "cultured saltwater" pearls.

The pearls feel gritty when rubbed together, and measure 6-6.5 mm in width. The grittiness, the irregularity of shape, and the variation between pearls make me think they are at least real pearls rather than imitation.

The coloring is odd. I'd read that dyed pearls would hold their color, but these (many of them) have some intense blue colors in the crevices while being only pale blue overall. So, poorly dyed baroque-ish Akoyas?

(When I started to make this post, I found a link to this thread: Weird thrifted pearls (https://www.pearl-guide.com/threads/weird-thrifted-pearls.462975/) with pearls that look sort of like mine, except mine are more obviously splotchy.)

The necklace is about 41 cm long (on stretched-out cord). The clasp is stamped "SILVER", but has a yellowish hue (plating?) and a little greenish discoloration in spots (maybe from copper in the silver alloy, or maybe the clasp is not actually silver?)

The bracelet is about 18 cm long (also on a stretched-out cord). The bracelet clasp is stamped "ACO 1/20 12K G.F.", so, gold-filled. I wonder if some pearls were removed from the necklace at some point to make the bracelet, since the clasp styles are so different.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

 

[Pella]

IMO they are dyed Akoya pearls. Those dark blue spots are the giveaway that they are dyed and those pearls with little tails or that have the remainder of tails where they have been trimmed to assist with knotting, indicate that they are Akoya. The clasp is vintage Chinese gilded silver.