What are these brass inserts in the links of this turquoise?

[zoesam]

bracelet.  

We are going through some of DH's mom's items.  Just came across a Bulova watch from 1943, that had the receipt!  It was $60 back then!  That must have been a fortune!  We also came across this bracelet, pix below.  I have no idea when it was made, it may be quite old or not.  

I don't think it's real turquoise, I suspect howlite for a few reasons, some of the stones are glued in crooked, you can see lots of glue around the edges & the color is very uniform.  Also, I can't feel the veining.  We're a little puzzled by the back of it though.  Every other link has a plug of what looks like brass in the center.  What would be the purpose of that?  Does it give any hints to age or possible value?  There are no marks of any sort on the metal.  It was in the same box as the 1943 watch but it could be older or newer.  

Any thoughts?  I plan to take it somewhere to look at the metals, but just thought I'd post in case anyone has any hints or knows why these weird plugs are in every other link.  TIA. 

[Deleted]

Totally a guess but maybe they used the same base for a similar bracelet that alternated a solid stone like the turquoise with a translucent stone that would need light behind it?

[frakinfashion]

No clue.

[zoesam]

Thanks guys. I guess it'll be a mystery. At some point I'll find a jewelery board to post on. All we could come up with was weight, but the bracelet isn't that light, so not sure why you'd need to weigh it down.

[zoesam]

Found out what they are LOL. They're magnets. It's one of those magnetic negative ion bracelets w/all sorts of s'posed health benefits. Funny, it was in the box with the watch from the 1940s, but this is prolly 10 years old & is junk IMO.