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It will indeed, thank you! You've all been very helpful. What I was trying to determine was, is it worth going the extra mile to find out what these are? And I'm hearing, perhaps not. I would have gone to a jeweller already, but I don't happen to live near one and truthfully, I'm not so sure I...

It keeps coming around to the issue of the tooth test, for me. Do faux pearls pass the tooth test? Are there any fakes that good? And if they do pass the tooth test, does that mean (as the proprietress of the gift shop firmly believed) that they must be real pearls--which then begs the question...

I've read on other places on this forum, also in other places in my recent research, that a 'mirror-type' surface is characteristic of true pearls. If you look, you can see me holding my camera, reflected in the surface... fwiw.

Here are some more photos, a couple of different hole openings, and one of the whole thing. They are certainly extremely uniform in colour and size, so it seems if they are real, a possibility I hold dear but am not deeply invested in, then they must be very very valuable, no?

Thank you, Sheri! It's certainly made my day more interesting, as if the kittens currently rampaging through the house weren't interesting enough. So far, unless shell beads can pass the tooth test, we've verified to my own satisfaction that they are at least actual pearls... the mystery...

When you say they're too large to be akoya, do you mean, 'they can't be akoya because no real expensive strand of non-graduated akoya pearls would ever ever end up in a thrift store' or 'they can't be akoya because akoya never get that big'? I'm not interested in the former attitude; I'm...

Do shell pearls match all the other criteria given? Such as the tooth test, etc etc. Interestingly, when I went out just now, I walked down the street and happened to stop in at a little gifts & collectibles shop in my neighbourhood. I was looking at a set of decent but fake pearls that were...

I have to go out for a while, but I'll return with some more photos and angles. Thank you everyone, for your help. Jeremy, I appreciate your very firm opinion but truly, I don't see any way these could possibly be plastic. I mean, they practically glow in the dark, and not in a plastic...

Here are my fuller answers, Pattye... 1. When you rub 2 pearls gently together, do they seem very smooth, or a just a bit gritty? (I like this better than the tooth test.) Yes, they are just slightly gritty; there's a catching feel when I rub them together. 2. When you look closely around the...

Slightly gritty, yes...

Okay, here are a couple more.

whoops, I posted two that were the same. Well, that should be enough, I imagine. Thanks for your help.

Okay... here are a couple of different shots.

I uploaded a file, hope that helps. This was taken outdoors in bright light.

Thanks for replying, pattye... I had tried to post an image, but it didn't show up so I posted a link to the image on my facebook page. Hope that helps! I used this one because my hand is there to give an idea of size...

Here is the link to the photo on my facebook page: http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo#/photo.php?pid=1300580&id=538865823&ref=mf

I found these at a thrift store for $4.50. They are heavy, pass every test I've found to give them. I work in a crystal shop and know a real pearl when I see one, and I have no doubt these are actual pearls. One has a small purple stain which would probably polish right off, and there are a...