No idea if graduated strands have any 'bad' image. There are so few on offer, that I wonder if they could even have any image at all! I even thought that graduated strands disappeared for being uneconomical for sellers ('cause hanks are not graduated, and retailers might come at a loss rematching), but not so... see the thread linked below.
Not that long ago there was this monster thread about making / buying graduated threads. Jeremy Shepherd of Pearl Paradise volunteered and made a few.
THIS is the thread. It spans a few topics. See pages 3-5 especially.
Apparently, you can have such things strung on order.
IMO, in any length but rope, strongly graduated strands just fall better. By 'strongly graduated' I mean variation of 30 to 50% of the largest pearl's diameter. Personally I prefer those where the largest stands out a bit - i.e. there's a bit of a 'jump' in size between the largest and the side-pearls. It doesn't hurt if said center is something great in its own right
My 2c
Glad to see one more fan of cascading pearls around!
PS. Sort of related. You may want to see
THIS!