These freshwater pearls are a lovely bright white with good luster. They have deep love rings on most of the pearls. They are 12 mm across. Each pearl has two rounded ends and this is where you find the shine. There is some variation of shape within each strand, but all pearls are basically 10 mm from hole to hole and 12 mm across. Each strand is 16 each long and there are approximately 40 pearls on each strand.