I've never had a real pearl necklace before, so I guess I didn't know what to expect. In my head I imagined pearls to be pretty heavy like marbles or something.. But these are kind of light. They are defiantly real, but based on things I have read online I figure them to be only AA quality, they are all pretty much the same size, but some have marks. Its nothing that I would return them over, but again in my head AAA quality means flawless. The backing seems fine, and the packaging is cute.. Overall I like them. And I received them SUPER fast!