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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.

Light Amethyst 9x11-10x14mm Tumble Nugget A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $27.00 - Original price $27.00
Original price $27.00
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Current price $27.00
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Amethyst is a beautiful purple stone, known as a “Gem of Fire” by ancient cultures. It has been greatly sought after throughout history and was at ...

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Topaz 8x10-10x12mm Rough Nugget A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $27.00 - Original price $27.00
Original price $27.00
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Current price $27.00
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Topaz is a rare silicate mineral and obtains much of its popularity from its beautiful colors and its status as a birthstone. Topaz occurs in a wi...

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Charoite 8x10-10x14mm Rough Irregular Rectangle - 15-16 Inch

Original price $32.00 - Original price $32.00
Original price $32.00
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Current price $32.00
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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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Beryl (Morganite) 8x10-10x12mm Rough Nugget A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $27.00 - Original price $27.00
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Current price $27.00
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A relatively rare silicate mineral found in igneous and metamorphic rocks around the world, Beryl is generally clear, while its variations in color...

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Rhodochrosite 8x10-10x12mm Rough Nugget A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $27.00 - Original price $27.00
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Current price $27.00
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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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Larimar 8x10-10x12mm Rough Nugget A Grade- 15-16 Inch

Original price $32.00 - Original price $32.00
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Current price $32.00
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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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Larimar 3-5x14-16mm Freeform Hexagon Wheel - 15-16 Inch

Original price $49.00 - Original price $49.00
Original price $49.00
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Current price $49.00
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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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Kyanite 3-5x14-16mm Freeform Hexagon Wheel - 15-16 Inch

Original price $45.00 - Original price $45.00
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Current price $45.00
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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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Cacoxenite 3-5x14-16mm Freeform Hexagon Wheel - 15-16 Inch

Original price $41.00 - Original price $41.00
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Current price $41.00
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Cacoxenite is the trade name for this naturally occurring blend of seven stone types. It was originally named for the visible inclusions of the min...

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Australian Chrysoprase 12-18mm Freeform Flat Hexagon - 15-16 Inch

Original price $32.00 - Original price $32.00
Original price $32.00
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Current price $32.00
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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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Cacoxenite 12-18mm Freeform Flat Hexagon - 15-16 Inch

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Cacoxenite is the trade name for this naturally occurring blend of seven stone types. It was originally named for the visible inclusions of the min...

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Chrysocolla 12-18mm Freeform Flat Hexagon - 15-16 Inch

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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 ...

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Peruvian Chrysocolla 9x13-12x16mm Top Drill Irregular Flat Drop - 15-16 Inch

Original price $26.00 - Original price $26.00
Original price $26.00
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Current price $26.00
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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 ...

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Topaz 9x13-12x16mm Top Drill Irregular Flat Drop - 15-16 Inch

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Current price $26.00
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Topaz is a rare silicate mineral and obtains much of its popularity from its beautiful colors and its status as a birthstone. Topaz occurs in a wi...

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Thulite 9x13-12x16mm Top Drill Irregular Flat Drop - 15-16 Inch

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Thulite is the naturally occurring pink variety of the mineral Zoisite. It can range in color from pale pink to deep rose or even rusty red tones d...

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Peruvian Turquoise (Chrysocolla) 9x13-12x16mm Top Drill Irregular Flat Drop - 15-16 Inch

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Peruvian Turquoise is also known as Turquoise Chrysocolla. It’s attractive blue-green provides a unique color to the mineral world. Peruvian Turquo...

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Green Kyanite 9x13-12x16mm Top Drill Irregular Flat Drop - 15-16 Inch

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Current price $26.00
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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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Citrine 9x13-12x16mm Top Drill Irregular Flat Drop - 15-16 Inch

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Citrine is a transparent Quartz, ranging in color from pale yellow to golden yellow, honey or brown, giving it a similar appearance to Topaz. It ma...

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Aquamarine 9x13-12x16mm Top Drill Irregular Flat Drop - 15-16 Inch

Original price $26.00 - Original price $26.00
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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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Sunstone 9x13-12x16mm Top Drill Irregular Flat Drop - 15-16 Inch - CLEARANCE

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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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Lepidolite 9x13-12x16mm Top Drill Irregular Flat Drop - 15-16 Inch

Original price $24.00 - Original price $24.00
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A particularly soft stone, Lepidolite has a glassy or lustrous sheen. It is the most abundant lithium-bearing mineral as well as a significant sour...

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Lapis 9x13-12x16mm Top Drill Irregular Flat 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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Chrysocolla Azurite Quartz 9x13-12x16mm Top Drill Irregular Flat Drop - 15-16 Inch

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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 ...

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Black Tourmaline 9x13-12x16mm Top Drill Irregular Flat Drop - 15-16 Inch

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Current price $24.00
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Black Tourmaline is a black crystalline aluminum borosilicate mineral with occasional light gray inclusions that appear as flecks or veins. Tourmal...

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African Turquoise 9x13-12x16mm Top Drill Irregular Flat Drop - 15-16 Inch

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African Turquoise is not actually Turquoise, but rather a speckled teal Jasper found in Africa and often treated to simulate the beautiful blue to ...

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Amethyst 9x13-12x16mm Top Drill Irregular Flat Drop - 15-16 Inch

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Amethyst is a beautiful purple stone, known as a “Gem of Fire” by ancient cultures. It has been greatly sought after throughout history and was at ...

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Original price $24.00 - Original price $24.00
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Blue Apatite 9x13-12x16mm Top Drill Irregular Flat Drop - 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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Pink Tourmaline 6x12-10x20mm Free Form Dancing Drops A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $24.00 - Original price $24.00
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Pink Tourmaline ranges in color from light pink to deep magenta, with inclusions of white to colorless translucent or transparent. Tourmaline occur...

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Beryl (Morganite) 6x12-10x20mm Pear Free Form Dancing Drops A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $23.00 - Original price $23.00
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A relatively rare silicate mineral found in igneous and metamorphic rocks around the world, Beryl is generally clear, while its variations in color...

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Blue Kyanite 6x12-10x20mm Free Form Pear A Grade - 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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Lapis 6x12-10x20mm Free Form Dancing Drops A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $23.00 - Original price $23.00
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Current price $23.00
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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 6x12-10x20mm Free Form Dancing Drops A 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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Blue Lace Agate 6x12-10x20mm Free Form Dancing Drops A Grade - 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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Citrine 6x12-10x20mm Free Form Dancing Drops AA Grade - 15-16 Inch

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Citrine is a transparent Quartz, ranging in color from pale yellow to golden yellow, honey or brown, giving it a similar appearance to Topaz. It ma...

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Yellow Opal 6x12-10x20mm Free Form Dancing Drops A Grade - 15-16 Inch

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Yellow Opal is transparent to opaque, milky white to pale yellow in color. It sometimes features dark brown to black dendritic inclusions that bran...

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Prehnite 6x12-10x20mm Free Form Dancing Drops A Grade - 15-16 Inch

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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...

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Strawberry Quartz 6x12-10x20mm Free Form Dancing Drops A Grade - 15-16 Inch

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Strawberry Quartz is a translucent, milky to pink silicon dioxide mineral. Its needle to like inclusions of hematite are iridescent red. Quartz has...

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Lavender Amethyst 6x12-10x20mm Free Form Dancing Drops A Grade - 15-16 Inch

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Lavender Amethyst is a transparent lavender variety of Amethyst, which forms in geodes and is generally found in clusters of crystal points. The pr...

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Peruvian Amazonite 6x12-10x20mm Free Form Dancing Drops A Grade - 15-16 Inch

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Peruvian Amazonite is an opaque stone occurring in colors from a bright turquoise blue to pale turquoise to pale yellow to green, with swirling inc...

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Indonesian Crazy Lace Agate 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Crazy Lace Agate is a banded Chalcedony that naturally occurs as golden brown with layers of pink, red and gray in swirling circular patterns. It h...

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Hematite Black Plated 2x6mm Hexagon - 15-16 Inch

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Hematite is an iron oxide and one of the few gemstones with a metallic luster. When tumbled it can have the look of polished steel. Hematite is bla...

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Hematite White Silver Plated 2x6mm Hexagon - 15-16 Inch

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Hematite is an iron oxide and one of the few gemstones with a metallic luster. When tumbled it can have the look of polished steel. Hematite is bla...

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Hematite Antique Brass Plated 2x6mm Hexagon - 15-16 Inch

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Hematite is an iron oxide and one of the few gemstones with a metallic luster. When tumbled it can have the look of polished steel. Hematite is bla...

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Hematite Light Gold Plated 2x6mm Hexagon - 15-16 Inch

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Hematite is an iron oxide and one of the few gemstones with a metallic luster. When tumbled it can have the look of polished steel. Hematite is bla...

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Hematite Antique Silver Plated 2x6mm Hexagon - 15-16 Inch

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Hematite is an iron oxide and one of the few gemstones with a metallic luster. When tumbled it can have the look of polished steel. Hematite is bla...

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Chocolate Selenite 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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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...

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Chocolate Selenite 10mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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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...

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Chocolate Selenite 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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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...

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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.