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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.

Mookaite 8x12mm Top Drill Faceted Tear Drop - 15-16 Inch

Original price $32.00 - Original price $32.00
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Mookaite is a variety of Jasper in colors of red, burgundy, pink, mauve, purple, yellow and white. It takes its name from Mooka Creek, near the Ken...

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Yellow Tiger Eye 8x12mm Top Drill Faceted Tear Drop - 15-16 Inch

Original price $32.00 - Original price $32.00
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Tiger Eye is a macrocrystalline Quartz stone with bands of rich golds and browns. Its chatoyant layers that create a flash which seems to emanate f...

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Green Quartz 8x12mm Top Drill Faceted Tear Drop - 15-16 Inch

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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...

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Lapis Quartz 8x12mm Top Drill Faceted Tear Drop - 15-16 Inch

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Lapis is a semi to precious stone and one of the most sought after throughout history. It is highly regarded for its beautiful blue color flecked w...

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Labradorite 8x12mm Top Drill Faceted Tear Drop - 15-16 Inch

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Labradorite is remarkable for the way its aggregate layers refract light, creating iridescent flashes of blue, gold, pale green or copper red. This...

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Blue Moonstone 5x8mm Chip - 15-16 Inch

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Moonstone naturally occurs in a broad spectrum of colors, but is most commonly associated with white, gray and peach. It's soft chatoyancy is remin...

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Golden Sunstone 5x8mm Chip - 15-16 Inch

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Sunstone, a variety of Feldspar, is aptly named for its shades of gold, orange, red and brown, as well as its iridescent sparkle. As the stone catc...

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Black Rutilated Quartz 5x8mm Chip - 15-16 Inch

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Rutilated Quartz is a silicon dioxide mineral with unique needle-like inclusions of Rutile. These “needles” usually appear golden, but can also app...

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Canadian Jade 5x8mm Chip - 15-16 Inch

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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...

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Larimar 5x8mm Chip - 15-16 Inch

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Larimar is a translucent blue, turquoise and white stone that can have streaks and patterns of white, as well as red or brown either from oxidation...

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Rhodochrosite 5x8mm Chip - 15-16 Inch

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Rhodochrosite is a bubblegum pink to rose red stone, with occasional inclusions of creamy white and dark grey. A manganese carbonate material of th...

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Tourmaline 5x10-20mm Top Drill Teeth - 15-16 Inch

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Tourmaline is classified as a semiprecious stone and occurs in a vast array of colors, everything from colorless to black, from pastel to bright to...

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Malachite 5x10-20mm Top Drill Teeth - 15-16 Inch

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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...

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Blue Kyanite 5x10-20mm Top Drill Teeth - 15-16 Inch

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Kyanite often occurs as long, bladed, striated crystals, transparent or translucent with a pearly luster. An aluminum silicate mineral, it may appe...

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Blue Lace Agate 5x10-20mm Top Drill Teeth - 15-16 Inch

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Blue Lace Agate is a naturally occuring soft blue agate, laced with bands or swirls of brighter blue, periwinkle, white and occasionally gray or br...

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Seraphinite 5x10-20mm Top Drill Teeth - 15-16 Inch

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Seraphinite's chatoyancy (optical reflectance) gives it a feathery appearance associated with angels (also known as seraphim.) Seraphinite is most ...

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Australian Chrysoprase 5x10-20mm Top Drill Teeth - 15-16 Inch

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Chrysoprase is a bright apple green, translucent stone, whose color often caused ancient jewelers to confuse it with Emerald. A cryptocrystalline C...

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Pink Opal 5x10-20mm Top Drill Teeth - 15-16 Inch

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Pink Opal is a variety of non to precious opal, meaning that it has lustre and some translucency without the fire or color play associated with pre...

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Kunzite 5x10-20mm Top Drill Teeth - 15-16 Inch

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Kunzite was named after a former Tiffany & Co. vice president, famed mineralogist and jeweler George Frederick Kunz, who first catalogued the s...

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Aquamarine 5x10-20mm Top Drill Teeth - 15-16 Inch

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Aquamarine is a transparent to translucent stone ranging from cerulean blue to light blue in higher grades. In lower grades it can be transparent t...

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Rhodochrosite 5x10-20mm Top Drill Teeth - 15-16 Inch

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Rhodochrosite is a bubblegum pink to rose red stone, with occasional inclusions of creamy white and dark grey. A manganese carbonate material of th...

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Ametrine 5x10-20mm Top Drill Teeth - 15-16 Inch

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Ametrine is quartz that occurs in bands of purple and yellow. As the name suggests, it is a combination of Amethyst and Citrine. The different colo...

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Green Kyanite 5x10-20mm Top Drill Teeth - 15-16 Inch

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Kyanite often occurs as long, bladed, striated crystals, transparent or translucent with a pearly luster. An aluminum silicate mineral, it may appe...

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Canadian Jade 5x10-20mm Top Drill Teeth - 15-16 Inch

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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...

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Hypersthene 5x10-20mm Top Drill Teeth - 15-16 Inch

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Hypersthene is often categorized as enstatite or ferrosilite, but its identity is complicated. Pure enstatite contains no iron, and pure ferrosilit...

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Charoite 5x10-20mm Top Drill Teeth - 15-16 Inch

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Charoite is a stone that naturally occurs in intense purple hues, as well as grays, browns, greenish yellows, white and black. These colors swirl t...

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Copper Hematoid Quartz 12mm Star Cut Coin - 15-16 Inch

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Hematoid Quartz is Quartz with inclusions of hematite. The hematite inclusions are responsible for the stone’s color, which can be yellow, orange, ...

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Tiger Eye 12mm Star Cut Coin - 15-16 Inch

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Tiger Eye is a macrocrystalline Quartz stone with bands of rich golds and browns. Its chatoyant layers that create a flash which seems to emanate f...

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Iolite 4x6mm Faceted Rondelle - 15-16 Inch

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Iolite most commonly occurs in shades of blue to gray, violet or indigo. It displays a visual property called “pleochroism,” which means that it ca...

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Red Garnet 4x6mm Faceted Rondelle - 15-16 Inch

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Red Garnet is the most commonly known type of Garnet, which occurs in many colors. Garnet has been used for adornment and spirituality by myriad cu...

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Blue Apatite 12mm Star Cut Coin - 15-16 Inch

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Blue Apatite ranges in color from light teal to blue to bright blue to dark blue to green. It can be easily confused with other minerals due to its...

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Brazilian Amazonite 4x6mm Faceted Rondelle - 15-16 Inch

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Brazilian Amazonite is an opaque blue to green to light green stone, often occurring with inclusions of white, yellow or gray and occasionally tran...

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Sale Sale

Dark Labradorite 5x8mm Irregular Faceted Rondelle - 15-16 Inch

Original price $28.00 - Original price $28.00
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Labradorite is remarkable for the way its aggregate layers refract light, creating iridescent flashes of blue, gold, pale green or copper red. This...

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Labradorite 4x10-13mm Chip - 15-16 Inch

Original price $12.00 - Original price $12.00
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Labradorite is remarkable for the way its aggregate layers refract light, creating iridescent flashes of blue, gold, pale green or copper red. This...

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Labradorite 5x7mm Irregular Faceted Rondelle - 15-16 Inch

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Labradorite is remarkable for the way its aggregate layers refract light, creating iridescent flashes of blue, gold, pale green or copper red. This...

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Dark Red Labradorite 5x7mm Irregular Faceted Rondelle AA Grade - 15-16 Inch

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Labradorite is remarkable for the way its aggregate layers refract light, creating iridescent flashes of blue, gold, pale green or copper red. This...

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Dark Red Labradorite 4x6mm Faceted Rondelle AA Grade - 15-16 Inch

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Labradorite is remarkable for the way its aggregate layers refract light, creating iridescent flashes of blue, gold, pale green or copper red. This...

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Labradorite 5x8mm Faceted Rondelle AA Grade - 15-16 Inch

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Labradorite is remarkable for the way its aggregate layers refract light, creating iridescent flashes of blue, gold, pale green or copper red. This...

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Labradorite 4mm Faceted Lantern AA Grade - 15-16 Inch

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Labradorite is remarkable for the way its aggregate layers refract light, creating iridescent flashes of blue, gold, pale green or copper red. This...

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Labradorite 10mm Heart AA Grade - 15-16 Inch

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Labradorite is remarkable for the way its aggregate layers refract light, creating iridescent flashes of blue, gold, pale green or copper red. This...

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Labradorite 6x10mm Irregular Faceted Rondelle - 15-16 Inch

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Labradorite is remarkable for the way its aggregate layers refract light, creating iridescent flashes of blue, gold, pale green or copper red. This...

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Dark Labradorite 6x10mm Faceted Rondelle AAA Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $96.00 - Original price $96.00
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Labradorite is remarkable for the way its aggregate layers refract light, creating iridescent flashes of blue, gold, pale green or copper red. This...

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Pink Opal 6x8mm Faceted Oval - 15-16 Inch

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Pink Opal is a variety of non to precious opal, meaning that it has lustre and some translucency without the fire or color play associated with pre...

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Brazilian Amazonite 6x8mm Faceted Oval - 15-16 Inch

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Brazilian Amazonite is an opaque blue to green to light green stone, often occurring with inclusions of white, yellow or gray and occasionally tran...

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Labradorite 8x10mm Faceted Oval - 15-16 Inch

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Labradorite is remarkable for the way its aggregate layers refract light, creating iridescent flashes of blue, gold, pale green or copper red. This...

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Pink Opal 6mm Square Faceted - 15-16 Inch

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Pink Opal is a variety of non to precious opal, meaning that it has lustre and some translucency without the fire or color play associated with pre...

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Sodalite 6mm Square Faceted - 15-16 Inch

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Sodalite is named for its sodium content and may be classified as a feldspathoid. Blue Sodalite is sometimes referred to as “poor man’s lapis” beca...

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Green Aventurine 6mm Square Faceted - 15-16 Inch

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Green Aventurine is a green translucent quartz with glimmering metallic inclusions. Green is the most common color for Aventurine, but it can also ...

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Frequently asked questions

  • 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.