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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.

Lepidolite 7x8mm Faceted Swirl Oval - 15-16 Inch

Original price $23.00 - Original price $23.00
Original price $23.00
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Current price $23.00
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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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Red Hematoid Quartz 7x8mm Faceted Swirl Oval - 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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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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Golden Hematoid Quartz 7x8mm Faceted Swirl Oval - 15-16 Inch

Original price $27.00 - Original price $27.00
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Current price $27.00
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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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Citrine 7x8mm Faceted Swirl Oval - 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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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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Current price $27.00
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Dog Teeth Amethyst 7x8mm Faceted Swirl Oval - 15-16 Inch

Original price $23.00 - Original price $23.00
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Dog Teeth Amethyst has a purple and white striped appearance due to its combination of Amethyst and White Quartz. The name derives from the recurri...

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Chrysocolla 7x8mm Faceted Swirl Oval - 15-16 Inch

Original price $36.00 - Original price $36.00
Original price $36.00
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Current price $36.00
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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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Black Tourmaline 7x8mm Faceted Swirl Oval - 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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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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Black Rutilated Quartz 7x8mm Faceted Swirl Oval - 15-16 Inch

Original price $23.00 - Original price $23.00
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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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Blue Apatite 7x8mm Faceted Swirl Oval - 15-16 Inch

Original price $32.00 - Original price $32.00
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Current price $32.00
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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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Aquamarine 7x8mm Faceted Rice Bead - 15-16 Inch

Original price $32.00 - Original price $32.00
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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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Black Rutilated Quartz 7x8mm Faceted Rice Bead - 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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Crystal Quartz 7x8mm Faceted Rice Bead - 15-16 Inch

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Crystal Quartz is a naturally occurring clear and colorless Quartz. It is a crystalline form of Quartz said to have many divine properties includin...

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Onyx 7x8mm Faceted Rice Bead - 15-16 Inch

Original price $18.00 - Original price $18.00
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Current price $18.00
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Onyx is a black and white banded Chalcedony, a cryptocrystalline Quartz. It is often thought of as an all to black stone, and much of the black Ony...

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Amethyst 7x8mm Faceted Rice Bead A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $32.00 - Original price $32.00
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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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Tourmaline 3mm Banded Table Cut Cube - 15-16 Inch

Original price $29.00 - Original price $29.00
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Current price $29.00
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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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Blue Tourmaline 3mm Table Cut Cube A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $37.00 - Original price $37.00
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Blue Tourmaline ranges in color from green to blue to yellow to green with black, milky white and clear, colorless inclusions. It is an aluminum bo...

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Golden Sunstone 3mm Table Cut Cube A Grade Bead - 15-16 Inch

Original price $20.00 - Original price $20.00
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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 Spinel 3mm Table Cut Cube A Grade Bead - 15-16 Inch

Original price $13.00 - Original price $13.00
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Current price $13.00
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Spinel is a hard vitreous magnesium aluminum oxide, and comes in a range of other colors, but those varieties are transparent. Black Spinel not onl...

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Sapphire 3mm Table Cut Cube A Grade Bead - 15-16 Inch

Original price $32.00 - Original price $32.00
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Sapphires are precious gemstones, but unlike rubies, they come in a rainbow of colors besides red! They are all varieties of the mineral corundum,...

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Peridot 3mm Table Cut Cube A Grade Bead - 15-16 Inch

Original price $31.00 - Original price $31.00
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Peridot (pair-uh-doe) is one of only two gems, the other being Diamond, that is not formed in the Earth’s crust. Rather, it is born in the molten r...

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Lapis 3mm Table Cut Cube A Grade Bead - 15-16 Inch

Original price $31.00 - Original price $31.00
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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 3mm Table Cut Cube A Grade Bead - 15-16 Inch

Original price $16.00 - Original price $16.00
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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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Kunzite 3mm Table Cut Cube AA Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $36.00 - Original price $36.00
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Current price $36.00
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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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Blue Kyanite 3mm Table Cut Cube A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $31.00 - Original price $31.00
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Current price $31.00
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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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Green Garnet 3mm Table Cut Cube A Grade - 15-16 Inch

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Green Garnet can be among the most valuable of garnets, which come in a variety of colors. Occurring in sizes ranging from a grain of sand to the s...

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Purple Garnet 3mm Table Cut Cube A Grade - 15-16 Inch

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Purple Garnet is a magenta to purple variety of the famous stone. Garnet has been used for adornment and spirituality by myriad cultures and civili...

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Brazilian Amazonite 3mm Table Cut Cube A Grade Bead - 15-16 Inch

Original price $18.00 - Original price $18.00
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Current price $18.00
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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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Emerald 3mm Table Cut Cube AA Grade Bead - 15-16 Inch

Original price $67.00 - Original price $67.00
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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...

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Citrine 3mm Table Cut Cube A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $17.00 - Original price $17.00
Original price $17.00
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Current price $17.00
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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 3mm Table Cut Cube A Grade Bead - 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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Hubei Turquoise 4-8mm Light Blue Nugget AA Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $105.00 - Original price $105.00
Original price $105.00
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Hubei Turquoise is sourced from Hubei Province in Northern China, one of the most recognized turquoise-producing regions in the world. This materia...

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Original price $105.00 - Original price $105.00
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Hubei Turquoise 6mm Blue Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $152.00 - Original price $152.00
Original price $152.00
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Current price $152.00
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Hubei Turquoise is sourced from Hubei Province in Northern China, one of the most recognized turquoise-producing regions in the world. This materia...

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Original price $152.00 - Original price $152.00
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Hubei Turquoise 9-10mm Blue Irregular Rondelle A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $183.00 - Original price $183.00
Original price $183.00
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Hubei Turquoise is sourced from Hubei Province in Northern China, one of the most recognized turquoise-producing regions in the world. This materia...

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Original price $183.00 - Original price $183.00
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Hubei Turquoise 2-3x7mm Blue Heishi - 15-16 Inch

Original price $116.00 - Original price $116.00
Original price $116.00
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Current price $116.00
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Hubei Turquoise is sourced from Hubei Province in Northern China, one of the most recognized turquoise-producing regions in the world. This materia...

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Original price $116.00 - Original price $116.00
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Hubei Turquoise 8-9x10-13mm Blue Nugget - 15-16 Inch

Original price $68.00 - Original price $68.00
Original price $68.00
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Current price $68.00
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Hubei Turquoise is sourced from Hubei Province in Northern China, one of the most recognized turquoise-producing regions in the world. This materia...

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Original price $68.00 - Original price $68.00
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Hubei Turquoise 5x7mm Flat Oval Blue AA Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $74.00 - Original price $74.00
Original price $74.00
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Hubei Turquoise is sourced from Hubei Province in Northern China, one of the most recognized turquoise-producing regions in the world. This materia...

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Original price $74.00 - Original price $74.00
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Hubei Turquoise 4x6mm Flat Oval Blue AA Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $68.00 - Original price $68.00
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Hubei Turquoise is sourced from Hubei Province in Northern China, one of the most recognized turquoise-producing regions in the world. This materia...

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Original price $68.00 - Original price $68.00
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Hubei Turquoise 4-8mm Graduated Heishi - 15-16-Inch

Original price $72.00 - Original price $72.00
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Hubei Turquoise is sourced from Hubei Province in Northern China, one of the most recognized turquoise-producing regions in the world. This materia...

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Original price $72.00 - Original price $72.00
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Atlantisite Stichtite 12 Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $65.00 - Original price $65.00
Original price $65.00
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Current price $65.00
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Stichtite is a mineral, a carbonate of chromium and magnesium. Its color ranges from pink through lilac to a rich purple color. Discovered in 1910 ...

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Atlantisite Stichtite 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $39.00 - Original price $39.00
Original price $39.00
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Current price $39.00
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Stichtite is a mineral, a carbonate of chromium and magnesium. Its color ranges from pink through lilac to a rich purple color. Discovered in 1910 ...

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Original price $39.00 - Original price $39.00
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Atlantisite Stichtite 4mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $34.00 - Original price $34.00
Original price $34.00
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Current price $34.00
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Stichtite is a mineral, a carbonate of chromium and magnesium. Its color ranges from pink through lilac to a rich purple color. Discovered in 1910 ...

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Atlantisite Stichtite 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $44.00 - Original price $44.00
Original price $44.00
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Current price $44.00
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Stichtite is a mineral, a carbonate of chromium and magnesium. Its color ranges from pink through lilac to a rich purple color. Discovered in 1910 ...

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Atlantisite Stichtite 10mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $61.00 - Original price $61.00
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Stichtite is a mineral, a carbonate of chromium and magnesium. Its color ranges from pink through lilac to a rich purple color. Discovered in 1910 ...

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Original price $61.00 - Original price $61.00
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Larimar 3x4mm Faceted Rondelle AA Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $82.00 - Original price $82.00
Original price $82.00
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Current price $82.00
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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 4mm Faceted Round AA Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $64.00 - Original price $64.00
Original price $64.00
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Current price $64.00
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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 3mm Faceted Round AA Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $46.00 - Original price $46.00
Original price $46.00
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Current price $46.00
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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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Original price $46.00 - Original price $46.00
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Larimar 6x8mm Faceted Rondelle A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $117.00 - Original price $117.00
Original price $117.00
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Current price $117.00
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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 5-6mm Free Form Cube A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $47.00 - Original price $47.00
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Current price $47.00
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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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Original price $47.00 - Original price $47.00
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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.