16-Inch Gemstones
The 16-inch strand is the industry standard—and no one stocks more of them than Dakota Stones. Browse more than 200 stone types across every color and pattern, from everyday staples like Amethyst and Jasper to collector favorites such as Red Garnet and rare Turquoise mine-runs. Because the strands measure a full 15 – 16 inches, you get enough beads for matching earring pairs, stretch bracelets, or a necklace focal and still have extras for accents.
Need to drill down fast? Use the filter bar to sort by Stone Type when you know the gem you want, or by Color when you’re building a palette first. Shapes range from classic rounds and rondelles to cubes, heishi, chips, and rare designer cuts—each strand calibrated for even sizing and smooth stringing.
Whether you’re a hobbyist replenishing a bead board or a pro assembling a full production run, this category is the workhorse of our catalog: reliable lengths, vast variety, and new additions arriving every month. Dive in, filter your way to the perfect strand, and keep your design queue flowing with Dakota Stones’ biggest collection.
Products: 2264
Emerald 3mm Round Faceted AAA Grade - 15-16 Inch
Emerald is one of the four “precious” gemstones, the others being Diamond, Ruby and Sapphire. It is the green form of Beryl, colored by trace amoun...
View full detailsSelenite 10mm Round Green Purple (Dyed) - 15-16 Inch
Selenite is a crystal formed from the mineral gypsum, which comes in many forms and color variations, but has been used historically to describe th...
View full detailsAfrican Jade with Quartz 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch
West African Jade is a complex Calcium Aluminum Silicate and is a Nephrite Jade. Its bright green coloration is due to traces of chromium. Metaphys...
View full detailsAfrican Jade with Quartz 10mm Round - 15-16 Inch
West African Jade is a complex Calcium Aluminum Silicate and is a Nephrite Jade. Its bright green coloration is due to traces of chromium. Metaphys...
View full detailsAfrican Turquoise 10mm Round AAA Grade - 15-16 Inch
African Turquoise is not actually Turquoise, but rather a speckled teal Jasper found in Africa and often treated to simulate the beautiful blue to ...
View full detailsAustralian Chrysoprase 4mm Round - 15-16 Inch
Chrysoprase is a bright apple green, translucent stone, whose color often caused ancient jewelers to confuse it with Emerald. A cryptocrystalline C...
View full detailsPeruvian Chrysocolla 10mm Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch
Chrysocolla, a hydrous copper silicate, is often mistaken for turquoise due to its rich blues and blue to greens. It often also occurs with colors ...
View full detailsGreen and White Jade 10mm Round - 15-16 Inch
Jade refers to an ornamental mineral, mostly known for its green varieties. Jade has been used for tens of thousands of years, initially as tools b...
View full detailsJadeite 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch
Jade refers to an ornamental mineral, mostly known for its green varieties. Jade has been used for tens of thousands of years, initially as tools b...
View full detailsPeruvian Chrysocolla 6mm Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch
Chrysocolla, a hydrous copper silicate, is often mistaken for turquoise due to its rich blues and blue to greens. It often also occurs with colors ...
View full detailsJadeite 10mm Round - 15-16 Inch
Jade refers to an ornamental mineral, mostly known for its green varieties. Jade has been used for tens of thousands of years, initially as tools b...
View full detailsGreen Angelite Cat's Eye 12mm Round - 15-16 Inch
Cat’s Eye is a quartz stone that appears in a range of colors including white, gray, green, yellow and brown. The fibrous asbestos inclusions in th...
View full detailsAustralian Chrysoprase 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch
Chrysoprase is a bright apple green, translucent stone, whose color often caused ancient jewelers to confuse it with Emerald. A cryptocrystalline C...
View full detailsAustralian Chrysoprase AA 10mm Round - 15-16 Inch
Chrysoprase is a bright apple green, translucent stone, whose color often caused ancient jewelers to confuse it with Emerald. A cryptocrystalline C...
View full detailsAustralian Chrysoprase 4mm Faceted Round AAA Grade - 15-16 Inch
Chrysoprase is a bright apple green, translucent stone, whose color often caused ancient jewelers to confuse it with Emerald. A cryptocrystalline C...
View full detailsAustralian Chrysoprase 2x3mm Faceted Rondelle AAA Grade - 15-16 Inch
Chrysoprase is a bright apple green, translucent stone, whose color often caused ancient jewelers to confuse it with Emerald. A cryptocrystalline C...
View full detailsGreen Quartz 8x12mm Top Drill Faceted Tear Drop - 15-16 Inch
From Brazil, Blue Green Quartz, also known as Prase, is solid clear Quartz crystals that get its bluish green color from Actinolite and Chlorite. Q...
View full detailsCanadian Jade 5x8mm Chip - 15-16 Inch
Canadian Jade is the trade name for this stone that ranges in color from light to dark green, with small, dark specks or veins. This material is ac...
View full detailsMalachite 5x10-20mm Top Drill Teeth - 15-16 Inch
Malachite is a copper carbonate with a bright green color and dark green banding. Usually found near copper deposits, it is formed through the comb...
View full detailsSeraphinite 5x10-20mm Top Drill Teeth - 15-16 Inch
Seraphinite's chatoyancy (optical reflectance) gives it a feathery appearance associated with angels (also known as seraphim.) Seraphinite is most ...
View full detailsAustralian Chrysoprase 5x10-20mm Top Drill Teeth - 15-16 Inch
Chrysoprase is a bright apple green, translucent stone, whose color often caused ancient jewelers to confuse it with Emerald. A cryptocrystalline C...
View full detailsGreen Kyanite 5x10-20mm Top Drill Teeth - 15-16 Inch
Kyanite often occurs as long, bladed, striated crystals, transparent or translucent with a pearly luster. An aluminum silicate mineral, it may appe...
View full detailsCanadian Jade 5x10-20mm Top Drill Teeth - 15-16 Inch
Canadian Jade is the trade name for this stone that ranges in color from light to dark green, with small, dark specks or veins. This material is ac...
View full detailsGreen Aventurine 6mm Square Faceted - 15-16 Inch
Green Aventurine is a green translucent quartz with glimmering metallic inclusions. Green is the most common color for Aventurine, but it can also ...
View full detailsChrysocolla 8mm Energy Prism Faceted - 15-16 Inch
Chrysocolla, a hydrous copper silicate, is often mistaken for turquoise due to its rich blues and blue to greens. It often also occurs with colors ...
View full detailsJade 5x8mm Rondelle Faceted - 15-16 Inch
Jade refers to an ornamental mineral, mostly known for its green varieties. Jade has been used for tens of thousands of years, initially as tools b...
View full detailsAustralian Chrysoprase 4mm Round Faceted - 15-16 Inch
Chrysoprase is a bright apple green, translucent stone, whose color often caused ancient jewelers to confuse it with Emerald. A cryptocrystalline C...
View full detailsEmerald 4mm Round Faceted - 15-16 Inch
Emerald is one of the four “precious” gemstones, the others being Diamond, Ruby and Sapphire. It is the green form of Beryl, colored by trace amoun...
View full detailsGreen Apatite 4mm Round Faceted - 15-16 Inch
Green Apatite is a transparent to translucent stone that may be green, yellow to green or sea to green in color. Apatite has been labeled the “dece...
View full detailsCubic Zirconia (CZ) 3mm Round Emerald Green Faceted (Synthetic) - 15-16 Inch
Zircon occurs in a variety of colors including yellow, green, red, reddish brown and blue hues, as well as colorless. Colorless Zircon of the highe...
View full detailsCubic Zirconia (CZ) 3mm Round Dark Olive Faceted (Synthetic) - 15-16 Inch
Zircon occurs in a variety of colors including yellow, green, red, reddish brown and blue hues, as well as colorless. Colorless Zircon of the highe...
View full detailsDiopside 2x4mm Thin Rondelle Faceted AA Grade - 15-16 Inch
Diopside is a calcium and magnesium silicate mineral. It is transparent or translucent, and can display a nearly emerald green color due to the pre...
View full detailsEthiopian Opal 5-11mm Nugget Green - 15-16 Inch
Ethiopian Opal was first discovered in Ethiopia in 1994, with additional major finds in 2008 and 2013. Beautiful specimens of Precious Opal, Fire O...
View full detailsGreen Kyanite 6-8x12-25mm Drop - 15-16 Inch
Kyanite often occurs as long, bladed, striated crystals, transparent or translucent with a pearly luster. An aluminum silicate mineral, it may appe...
View full detailsUnakite 24x60mm Leaf - 15-16 Inch
Unakite is a granite composed of pink Feldspar and Epidote, creating a beautiful blend of pink and green in mottled patterns. The colors in this st...
View full detailsGreen Kyanite 5-10x22-30mm Teeth - 15-16 Inch
Kyanite often occurs as long, bladed, striated crystals, transparent or translucent with a pearly luster. An aluminum silicate mineral, it may appe...
View full detailsPrehnite 6mm Round AAA Grade - 15-16 Inch
Prehnite was the first mineral to be named after a person: its discoverer, Dutch Colonel Hendrik Von Prehn. Von Prehn discovered the stone in South...
View full detailsPrehnite 8mm Round AAA Grade - 15-16 Inch
Prehnite was the first mineral to be named after a person: its discoverer, Dutch Colonel Hendrik Von Prehn. Von Prehn discovered the stone in South...
View full detailsRuby Zoisite 10mm Round - 15-16 Inch
Ruby Zoisite occurs naturally when small Ruby crystals become embedded within Zoisite. The Ruby inclusions in this stone are pink to reddish purple...
View full detailsGreen Lodalite Quartz 6-7mm Table Cut Cube Bead - 15-16 Inch
Green Lodalite is Quartz with inclusions of sand. These inclusions range broadly in type and color and produce patterns that can look like gardens....
View full detailsBlue Opal 10x20mm Nugget - 15-16 Inch
Blue Peruvian Opal naturally occurs with swirling patterns of deep blues, blue to greens and greens swirled with yellow to green, rust, brown and o...
View full detailsOlive Jade 8mm Star Cut Coin - 15-16 Inch
Olive Jade is the commercial name for this yellow to green to olive green stone and ranges from translucent to opaque. This material is actually Se...
View full detailsCubic Zirconia (CZ) 2x3mm Faceted Rondelle Green Banded - 15-16 Inch
Cubic Zirconia, abbreviated as CZ, is a lab-made form of zirconium dioxide. Made to resemble Diamonds, these stones offer the same beauty and spark...
View full detailsDiopside 4-5mm Irregular Cube - 15-16 Inch
Diopside is a calcium and magnesium silicate mineral. It is transparent or translucent, and can display a nearly emerald green color due to the pre...
View full detailsAfrican Turquoise 8mm Star Cut Coin A Grade - 15-16 Inch
African Turquoise is not actually Turquoise, but rather a speckled teal Jasper found in Africa and often treated to simulate the beautiful blue to ...
View full detailsSeraphinite 2.5mm Table Cut Cube AAA Grade Bead - 15-16 Inch
Seraphinite's chatoyancy (optical reflectance) gives it a feathery appearance associated with angels (also known as seraphim.) Seraphinite is most ...
View full detailsSeraphinite 3x4mm Faceted Rondelle AAA Grade - 15-16 Inch
Seraphinite's chatoyancy (optical reflectance) gives it a feathery appearance associated with angels (also known as seraphim.) Seraphinite is most ...
View full detailsSeraphinite 4mm Faceted Round AAA Grade - 15-16 Inch
Seraphinite's chatoyancy (optical reflectance) gives it a feathery appearance associated with angels (also known as seraphim.) Seraphinite is most ...
View full detailsFrequently asked questions
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What is a 16-inch strand and why is it the trade standard?
A 16-inch strand is the working length most US jewelry designers buy for design-grade work — necklaces, multi-strand layouts, and bulk component sourcing. It gives enough beads to lay out a full 18–20 inch necklace with clasp and findings, or to cut down into shorter assemblies without running short. The 16-inch length has been the trade default for decades because it standardizes pricing and bead-count math across stones and cuts. Dakota's 16-inch hub covers the full catalog at this length, across rounds, rondelles, faceted cuts, cubes, coins, and shape work. The bracelet counterpart is the 8-inch strand. -
How many beads per 16-inch strand at common sizes?
Approximate bead counts per 16-inch strand assume snug-strung beads with no spacer drift. At 2mm you get roughly 200 beads, at 3mm about 135, at 4mm about 100, at 6mm about 66, at 8mm about 50, at 10mm about 40, and at 12mm about 33. Faceted cuts, rondelles, and irregular shapes (pebble, nugget, coin) vary — count is driven by the bead's drilled axis, not its widest dimension. Exact count should be disclosed; ask before buying if a piece-count is critical for your design and isn't specified. -
16-inch vs 8-inch — which length for which project?
16-inch is the necklace and design-strand length: enough material for an 18–20 inch finished necklace, multi-strand torsades, long earring drops, or component cutting. 8-inch is the bracelet length: pre-cut to the wrist standard, sized for stretch-cord bracelets and single-wrap pieces. Designers running production bracelet lines typically buy 8-inch to skip the cut-down step; designers doing necklace work, statement pieces, or mixed assemblies buy 16-inch for the bead count and pricing efficiency. Both lengths share the same stones and cuts where stocked — the choice is about finished-piece geometry, not material grade. -
What stones and cuts does Dakota carry in 16-inch?
The 16-inch hub spans the full catalog. Most-stocked stones include agate, turquoise, quartz, jasper, tourmaline, moonstone, garnet, labradorite, opal, and amazonite, with deeper coverage across feldspar, chalcedony, and silica varieties. Cut coverage runs from smooth round and faceted round (the largest categories) through rondelle, microfaceted round, pebble and nugget, cube, table-cut cube, faceted cube, and coin. Standard sizes are 4mm, 6mm, 8mm, and 10mm, with 2mm and 3mm in microfaceted work and 12mm in larger statement rounds. Filter by stone, cut, or size to narrow the grid. -
How does Dakota measure 16-inch strand lengths?
Strand length is measured end-to-end along the drilled axis, beads strung snug with no gaps. A 16-inch strand can run 15.5 to 16.5 inches depending on bead shape and how the cutter finished the temporary string — irregular shapes (nugget, pebble, raw-faceted) sit at the looser end because the drill points don't always center on the bead's midline. Bead count per strand reflects this variance. Length and approximate count should be disclosed; if you need a tight tolerance for a calibrated production run, ask before buying so the team can pull and measure before shipping.