Gemstone Focals
A single focal can define an entire piece of jewelry, and our collection is built for that moment. Browse statement pendants with top-drilled bails, perfectly domed cabochons ready for bezels, classic center-drilled donuts, and designer collar sets—all cut to showcase dramatic true color, intricate matrix, or mirror-bright translucence.
Shapes range from ovals and coins to free-form marquise; materials span crowd-pleasers like labradorite and turquoise to rarities such as larimar or pietersite. While patterns and dimensions vary slightly—proof each stone is natural—every focal passes Dakota Stones standards for polish, stability, and visual impact.
Choose a centerpiece, frame it with complementary rounds or keep it minimal on leather, and let the stone do the talking. Whatever your design style, this focal lineup supplies the show-stopping element that turns good jewelry into unforgettable art.
Focal Beads for Jewelry Making – Highlight Your Designs
Products: 261
Tiger Eye 40mm Donut Pendant
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...
View full detailsKambaba Jasper 40mm Donut Pendant
Kambaba Jasper is a sedimentary stone comprised of microcrystalline Quartz interlaced with Stromatolites — ancient fossilized colonies of primeval ...
View full detailsRose Quartz 40mm Donut Pendant
Rose Quartz is a silicon dioxide crystal and one of the most common varieties of the Quartz family. It is a translucent to transparent stone with a...
View full detailsCrazy Lace Agate 40mm Donut Pendant
Crazy Lace Agate is named for its swirling and circular patterns. Crazy Lace Agate is often dyed to produce colors that do not naturally occur in t...
View full detailsWhite Lace Red Jasper 40mm Donut Pendant
White Lace Red Jasper is a deep red or burnt orange stone, complemented by white, gray, and black bands and flecks of color. Red Jasper has histori...
View full detailsDalmation Jasper 40mm Donut Pendant
Dalmatian Jasper is the trade name for Dalmatian Stone, which is not Jasper but rather a combination of Feldspar and Quartz. It is opaque, creamy w...
View full detailsBlack Silver Leaf Jasper 40mm Donut Pendant
Black Silverleaf Jasper is a rare form of Jasper, characterized by its color range of black, gray and white and its swirling, leafy patterns. It is...
View full detailsTiger Iron 40mm Donut Pendant
Composed mostly of tiger's eye, red jasper and black hematite, Tiger Iron has long been popular with jewelry-makers. The gold, silver, brown and re...
View full detailsBirds Eye Rhyolite 50mm Square Donut - Pendant
Bird’s Eye Rhyolite is named for its circular color formations of deep reds, light tans and earthtones. Rhyolite was named "streaming rock" because...
View full detailsWhite Howlite 40mm Donut Pendant
White Howlite is named for Canadian mineralogist Henry How, who first discovered the stone in Southern California in 1868. It is typically white or...
View full detailsTiger Iron 40mm Square Donut - Pendant
Composed mostly of tiger's eye, red jasper and black hematite, Tiger Iron has long been popular with jewelry-makers. The gold, silver, brown and re...
View full detailsBlue Goldstone 40mm Donut Pendant
Blue Goldstone is an opaque, midnight blue glass with flecks of copper suspended within it. These flecks glitter as they catch the light and may ap...
View full detailsGreen Brecciated Jasper 40mm Square Donut - Pendant
This stone is composed of angular fragments of minerals. Pyhsically, it is found in a pale and earthy green. Metaphysically it is often used for st...
View full detailsGreen Brecciated Jasper 50mm Square Donut - Pendant
This stone is composed of angular fragments of minerals. Pyhsically, it is found in a pale and earthy green. Metaphysically it is often used for st...
View full detailsOnyx 40mm Square Donut - Pendant
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...
View full detailsTree Agate 40mm Donut Pendant
Tree Agate is not banded like other Agates, and therefore is not an Agate in the strictest terms. Rather than banding, Tree Agate has dendritic inc...
View full detailsSodalite 40mm Donut Pendant
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...
View full detailsPicture Jasper 40mm Square Donut - Pendant
Picture Jasper is a form of brown Jasper characterized by its unique banding and flow patterns created by petrified or silicate mud and occasional ...
View full detailsFlower Obsidian 40mm Donut Pendant
Essentially a volcanic glass, Obsidian ranges in color from opaque black, to green, brown, mahogany, black with rainbow colors, black with snowflak...
View full detailsRuby Zoisite 40mm Donut Pendant
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 detailsJade 40mm Donut Pendant
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 detailsPicture Jasper 40mm Donut - Pendant
Picture Jasper is a form of brown Jasper characterized by its unique banding and flow patterns created by petrified or silicate mud and occasional ...
View full detailsMexican Zebra Jasper 40mm Donut Pendant
Mexican Zebra Jasper has banded and marbled patterns of translucent to opaque milky white and black. Jasper has a long and illustrious history, and...
View full detailsRed Snake Skin Jasper 40mm Donut Pendant
Jasper has a long and illustrious history, having been worn by shamans, priests and kings and believed to be a powerful protection stone. Ancient E...
View full detailsApple Jasper 40mm Donut Pendant
Apple Jasper carries the deep red to bright red hues of apples, frequently complemented by tans, ochre browns and deep greens. Jaspers are consider...
View full detailsWhite Lace Red Jasper 40mm A Grade Donut Pendant
White Lace Red Jasper is a deep red or burnt orange stone, complemented by white, gray, and black bands and flecks of color. Red Jasper has histori...
View full detailsRhyolite 40mm Donut Pendant
Rhyolite is a volcanic, igneous rock with high silica content. Its name is taken from the Greek word “rhyax,” meaning “a stream of lava.” It is che...
View full detailsMexican Red Snowflake Jasper Matte 40mm Square Donut - Pendant
Mexican Red Snowflake Jasper is a naturally occurring Jasper with deep red, bright red, pink and golden mottling and spots within the primarily bla...
View full detailsPicasso Jasper 40mm Donut Pendant
Picasso Jasper is a stone with such beautiful colors and painterly patterns that is was named after Pablo Picasso. Commonly occurring in black or g...
View full detailsDark Dumortierite 40mm Donut Pendant
Dumortierite is an aluminum borosilicate mineral that varies in color from blue, green and brown to the more rare violet and pink. First described ...
View full detailsUnakite 40mm Donut Pendant
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 detailsLarvikite 40mm Donut Pendant
The name originates from the town of Larvik, Norway where this type of igneous rock is found. Legend has it that it came to the worlds attention in...
View full detailsOutback Jasper 40mm Donut Pendant
Outback Jasper is a milky white to light pink to golden brown stone, with striking patterns that may resemble birch bark or wood grain. Jaspers are...
View full detailsAfrican Green Jasper 40mm Donut Pendant
African Green Jasper is a single-colored opaque stone, ranging in color from a deep olive green to a pale spring green with brown banding or stripe...
View full detailsRed Creek Jasper 40mm Donut Pendant
Red Creek Jasper is named for the Red River in china where the stone was recently discovered. Its colors include burnt red, mustard yellow, olive g...
View full detailsRhodonite with Matrix 40mm Donut Pendant
Rhodonite, whose name is derived from the Greek word for Rose, “rhodon,” is known for its pink, red and magenta hues. A Manganese inosilicate (or c...
View full detailsFantasy Jasper 40mm Donut Pendant
Since gemstones (natural, enhanced, or man-made) have variations in colors and patterns, the one you receive may look different from what is shown.
Fancy Jasper 40mm Donut Pendant
Fancy Jasper, also known as Rainbow Jasper, ranges in color from light to dark green, deep red, tan, cream, pink and mauve. It is a chalcedony beli...
View full detailsGreen Jasper 40mm Donut Pendant
Since gemstones (natural, enhanced, or man-made) have variations in colors and patterns, the one you receive may look different from what is shown.
Frequently asked questions
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What is a focal bead and how do designers use it?
A focal is a larger single bead or pendant — typically 12–40mm — meant to anchor a design rather than repeat down a strand. Designers center one focal on a necklace, hang it as a pendant from a chain or beaded strand, or use it as the visual stop between sections of smaller beads. Because the focal carries the eye, pattern, color zoning, and matrix in the stone matter more than they would on a 6mm round. Most focals in this category ship as individual pieces or small lots rather than full strands, so check the listing for quantity per listing. -
What focal shapes does Dakota carry?
The category covers donuts, ovals, slices, teardrops, squares, free-form shapes, marquise, and guru beads used at the head of a mala. Donuts are the most common (often 38–40mm) and work well on cord or with bail wraps. Slices show interior banding and matrix from the cut face and are usually free-form in outline. Teardrops and ovals drill top-down as pendants; squares and rounds typically drill through the center. Each cut style routes to a sub-collection so you can browse by shape rather than scrolling the full focals hub. -
How large do focal beads typically run?
Most focals fall between 12mm and 40mm. Common sizes include 12mm rounds and squares, 13x18mm and 12x25mm ovals and teardrops, 9x32mm marquise and elongated drops, 15mm donuts, and 38–40mm donuts and slices for statement pendants. Slices and free-forms vary piece to piece because they follow the natural shape of the cut, so the listed dimension is nominal — expect ±1–2mm variation. Exact measurements should be disclosed; ask before buying if a specific size is critical to your finished design. -
What's the difference between top-drilled and center-drilled focals?
Top-drilled focals have the hole running side-to-side near the top of the bead, so the piece hangs as a pendant — common on teardrops, ovals, and slices. Center-drilled focals have the hole running through the long axis like a regular bead, so they sit in-line on a strand or wire. Donuts use a large central hole and are usually strung on cord, leather, or with a bail. Drill direction changes how you finish the piece, so confirm the drill style before ordering findings or stringing material. -
Which stones work best as focals?
Pattern-rich material reads strongest at focal size. Jasper is the largest group here — picture jasper, ocean jasper, and landscape varieties all show scenic banding that benefits from a larger cut surface. Agate and botswana agate carry visible banding; labradorite and tiger eye carry chatoyancy and flash that need surface area to show. Lapis, amazonite, turquoise, rose quartz, and quartz round out the offering for solid-color or translucent focals. Treatment varies by stone — stabilization on turquoise, dye on some agates — and should be disclosed; ask before buying if it isn't specified.