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.
3X10-20mm Rhodochrosite Natural Chips TD AA Grade - 15-16 Inch - CLEARANCE
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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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4x6 mm Dendritic Opal Table Cut Corner Drilled Cube - 15-16 Inch
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This variety of opal is named "dendritic" for the small inclusions within it that resemble moss or ferns. These inclusions consist of iron, mangane...
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4x6 mm Peach Moonstone Natural Table Cut Corner Drilled Cube - 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. Its soft chatoyancy is remins...
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Blue Apatite 10mm A Grade Round - 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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Blue Apatite 4mm A Grade Round 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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Blue Apatite 6mm A Grade Round 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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Blue Apatite 8mm A Grade Round 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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Sodalite 10mm Round AAA Grade - 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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Sodalite 6mm Round AAA Grade - 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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Sodalite 8mm Round AAA Grade 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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$36.00
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African Jade (A) 10mm Round 15-16 Inch
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African Jade is a complex Calcium Aluminum Silicate and is a Nephrite Jade. Its bright green coloration is due to traces of chromium. Metaphysicall...
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African Jade (A) 6mm Round 15-16 Inch
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African Jade is a complex Calcium Aluminum Silicate and is a Nephrite Jade. Its bright green coloration is due to traces of chromium. Metaphysicall...
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African Petrified Wood Agate 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch
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Petrified Wood Agate is formed from the petrifaction process of primeval trees over the course of many years. Petrification occurs when the wood is...
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African Petrified Wood Agate 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch
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Petrified Wood Agate is formed from the petrifaction process of primeval trees over the course of many years. Petrification occurs when the wood is...
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African Petrified Wood Agate 6-7mm Table Cut Cube Bead - 15-16 Inch
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Petrified Wood Agate is formed from the petrifaction process of primeval trees over the course of many years. Petrification occurs when the wood is...
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African Turquoise (AAA) 6mm Round 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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African Turquoise (AAA) 8mm Round 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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African Turquoise 6-7mm Table Cut Cube Bead - 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 ...
View full details
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African Turquoise 6x8 Tri Cut Faceted Rondelle - 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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African Turquoise 8mm Energy Prism Faceted - 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-gre...
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Amazonite 6-7mm Table Cut Cube Bead - 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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Amazonite 6-8mm Free Form - 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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Amazonite 8x10-10x12mm Freeform Cut - 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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$70.00
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Amber 4-22mm Dark Chip - 15-16 Inch
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Amber is a yellow, brown or orange organic gem, neither a crystal nor a mineral. It is a product of nature, the fossilized resin of prehistoric pin...
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Frequently 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.