I was rather disappointed in this necklace compared to others I've ordered from Amazon recently. I also ordered the Amour 7-7.5mm Freshwater Pearl necklace, and I actually like it MUCH better. This one (8-9mm 18" Freshwater Knotted Pearl necklace), the pearls are unevenly matched with only about a third of them being 8-8.5mm (none are 9mm), most are the same size as the other Amour 7-7.5mm (less priced) necklace, and there are several very oval-shaped smaller pearls less than 7mm and the smaller pearls are intermixed with the larger ones (i.e. looking down the strand, one or two pearls may be a 8-8.5mm pearl followed by 3-6 7-7.5mm or smaller pearls) and this is very noticeable when wearing. Also, the nacre (mother of pearl) on these pearls is about half what is on the smaller strand of Amour pearls. The luster is good on some of the pearls, mainly the smaller ones, and nearly non-existent on many of the larger pearls and some very small pearls. The aura given by these pearls does not speak quality when being worn, and have an almost faux pearl or glass bead look.  Quite a few blemishes, mostly caused by the way they were handled when drilling the holes and that is unacceptable in any cultured pearl. The strand is tied & knotted well, but not really any better than the 7-7.5mm pearl necklace. Weight between the two strands is basically the same with the knotting on the 8-9mm being what any difference would be, not the pearl quality themselves. In fact the 7-7.5mm pearls themselves have more weight to the necklace as they have a much more even amount of pearls that are apparently larger than what the supposed 8-9mm necklace has.  While the price was not much more than the 7-7.5mm necklace, the 7-7.5mm necklace is a much better necklace--better quality, better matched, better composed. With this supposed 8-9mm necklace, it seems one still gets 7-7.5mm pearls or less--at least I did.