Round Beads
Round beads are the workhorse—and showpiece—of jewelry design. Our All Rounds collection spans more than 100 natural stone types, each offered in graduated sizes from 4 mm to 12 mm so you can build seamless strands, stackable bracelets, or accent rows without hunting for a match.
What sets Dakota rounds apart is the one-batch method: we cut every size you see from the same parcel of rough, then sort by diameter in a single production run. That “Dakota Way” means a 6 mm lapis bead and its 10 mm big brother share identical hue and pattern, giving finished pieces a professional, color-true flow.
Every sphere is diamond-ground to perfect symmetry, hand-polished for a glassy finish, and visually graded to Dakota Stones standards before it ships. Stock up on crowd-pleasers like Amazonite, Kyanite, Jasper, and Quartz—or branch into rarities such as Variscite or Shattuckite—confident that each round will string, drape, and wear with the consistency designers trust.
Products: 1631
MATTE Black Gold Amazonite 6mm Round - 8-Inch
Black Gold Amazonite is a member of the Feldspar family and varies in hue from robin’s egg blue to blue-green to black, occasionally mingled with r...
View full detailsUnakite 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch
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 detailsMadre de Cacao Wood 6mm Round Bead - 15-16 Inch
Madre de Cacao is a very hard tropical wood with a visible grain. This species is formally identified as Gliricidia sepium and can be found by diff...
View full detailsMATTE River Stone 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch
River Stone is a form of limestone composed of quartz, calcium carbonate and other materials. Naturally beautiful, it offers a way to work a neutra...
View full detailsPink Tourmaline with Pink Lepidolite 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch
Pink Tourmaline ranges in color from light pink to deep magenta, with inclusions of white to colorless translucent or transparent. Tourmaline occur...
View full detailsRose Quartz 6mm Round Large Hole Beads - 8 Inch
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 detailsPetrified Wood Opalite 6mm Round - 8-inch
Wood Opalite is a type of petrified wood that has been impregnated with the Silicon Dioxide commonly known as Opal. Wood Opalite occurs in a range ...
View full detailsTerra Agate Red 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch
A form of chalcedony made of quartz, Terra Agate contains the best of nature in a variety of small shapes. Our Red Terra Agate is dyed to give a un...
View full detailsCherry Quartz 6mm Round - 8-Inch
Cherry Quartz is a manmade mixture of clear glass with swirls and flecks of deep pink. To create Cherry Quartz, glass is melted in a furnace and th...
View full detailsGraywood 6mm Round Bead - 15-16 Inch
Like all of Dakota Stones items, our wood beads are top quality and sourced from the best ethically produced manufacturers. Natural wood beads have...
View full detailsEagle Eye Stone (A) 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch
Similar to Tiger's Eye, this gemstone in its polished state looks like what it would be like to capture smoke in a stone -- bottomless black mixed ...
View full detailsSodalite 6mm Round AAA Grade - 15-16 Inch
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 detailsMixed Stone 6mm Round 15-16 Inch
Robles Wood 6mm Round Bead - 15-16 Inch
Robles is a light, strong tropical wood native to the Philippines. Like all of Dakota Stones items, our wood beads are top quality and sourced fr...
View full detailsBrazilian Amazonite 6mm AAA Grade Round - 15-16 Inch
Brazilian Amazonite is an opaque blue-green to light green stone, often occurring with inclusions of white, yellow or gray and occasionally translu...
View full detailsRed Garnet 6mm Round Faceted 15-16 Inch
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...
View full detailsSodalite Natural 6mm Round Large Hole Beads - 8 Inch
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 detailsRainbow Jade (Natural) 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch
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 detailsAfrican Turquoise (AAA) 6mm Round 15-16 Inch
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 detailsMookaite 6mm Round -15-16 Inch
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...
View full detailsGolden Sunstone 6mm Round - 15-16"
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...
View full details6mm Birds Eye Rhyolite Natural Round Large Hole Beads - 8 Inch
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 detailsBloodstone 6mm Round Large Hole Beads - 8 Inch
Bloodstone most commonly refers to green Jasper with red inclusions consisting of Hematite. Naturally occurring in hues of blue to green to green w...
View full detailsLemurian Aquatine Calcite 6mm Round- 15-16 Inch (Blue Onyx)
This unique stone is named after a now debunked theory of a continent called “Lemuria” thought to have sunk into the Indian Ocean. Though it is wid...
View full detailsFossil Coral 6mm Round 8-Inch
Fossil Coral is the prehistoric fossilized remains of the invertebrate reef builders that live in tropical oceans. Silica-rich waters create harden...
View full detailsTiger Eye 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch
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 detailsObicular Jasper 6mm Round - 15-16 inch
Green Lodalite Quartz 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch
Green Lodolite is Quartz with inclusions of sand. These inclusions range broadly in type and color and produce patterns that can look like gardens....
View full detailsAmethyst 6mm Round - Large Hole Beads
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 ...
View full detailsRed Creek Jasper 6mm Round - 15-16 inch
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 detailsBlack Gold Amazonite 6mm Round Large Hole Beads - 8 Inch
Black Gold Amazonite is a member of the Feldspar family and varies in hue from robin’s egg blue to blue-green to black, occasionally mingled with r...
View full detailsGolden Obsidian Natural 6mm Round Large Hole Beads - 8 Inch
Golden Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass, shiny black with a golden sheen. Obsidian is produced when lava erupts from a volcano and ...
View full detailsDZI Agate 6mm Round Watermelon Black/White - 15-16 Inch
These Dakota Stones "DZI" style agate beads are made to resemble beads first found in India between 1000 and 2000 BCE. These reproductions are desi...
View full detailsKunzite 6mm Round Mixed - 15-16 Inch
Kunzite was named after a former Tiffany & Co. vice president, famed mineralogist and jeweler George Frederick Kunz, who first catalogued the s...
View full detailsWood Rhodonite 6mm Round Large Hole Beads - 8 Inch
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 detailsBayong 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch
Bayong is a hardwood native to the Philippines with a natural red-brown color, and is similar to Mahogany.Like all of Dakota Stones items, our wood...
View full detailsDZI Agate 6mm Round Black Line Pattern - 15-16 Inch
These Dakota Stones "DZI" style agate beads are made to resemble beads first found in India between 1000 and 2000 BCE. These reproductions are desi...
View full detailsRocky Butte 6mm Faceted Round - 15-16 Inch
Rocky Butte Jasper is mined in Oregon and may have either dendritic or landscape qualities. It may also be called Rocky Butte Picture Jasper. The c...
View full detailsPietersite 6mm Round 15-16 Inch
Pietersite has been called the Tempest Stone for its colors of deep blue and gray with metallic gold and flashes of brilliant chatoyancy as it catc...
View full detailsDendritic Black Opal 6mm Round 15-16 Inch
This variety of opal is named "dendritic" for the small inclusions within it that resemble moss or ferns. These inclusions consist of iron, mangane...
View full detailsMulti Tourmaline 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch
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...
View full detailsMoss Agate 6mm Round 15-16 Inch
Moss Agate is a variety of Chalcedony, clear to milky white to dark green, with inclusions that appear in patterns similar to moss or lichen. The i...
View full detailsSapphire 6mm Faceted Round 15-16 Inch
Sapphires are precious gemstones, but unlike rubies, they come in a rainbow of colors besides red! They are all varieties of the mineral corundum,...
View full detailsBlue Chalcedony (Marbled) 6mm Round 15-16 Inch
Blue Chalcedony is a naturally occurring soft blue translucent stone. It is a member of the Quartz family, a form of silica with a cryptocrystallin...
View full detailsRiver Stone 6mm Round 15-16 Inch
River Stone is a form of limestone composed of quartz, calcium carbonate and other materials. Naturally beautiful, it offers a way to work a neutra...
View full detailsCitrine 6mm Round (Natural) AA Grade - 15-16 inch
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...
View full detailsFlower Jade 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch
Flower Jade is a form of Jadeite, a sodium aluminum silicate and one of the two minerals that are commonly known as “Jade,” the other being Nephrit...
View full detailsHydrogrossular Garnet 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch
Hydrogrossular garnet is an especially rare gemstone. It's defined by a bright green color, and most commonly found with black inclusions. These in...
View full detailsAbout this cut
Frequently asked questions
-
What is a smooth round gemstone bead?
A round bead is a sphere cut from gemstone rough and polished smooth — no facets, no flat edges. Standard rounds are center-drilled straight through the bead so the hole runs pole-to-pole. The geometry makes them the most predictable cut to design with: they sit cleanly on flex wire, stack uniformly on stretch cord, and read as a clean color block without the light play of a faceted surface. Rounds are typically calibrated to nominal sizes (4mm, 6mm, 8mm) within standard trade tolerances, though softer or more fractured stones can vary a half-millimeter strand to strand. -
What sizes does Dakota stock in round?
Round is Dakota's deepest cut by volume. Current stock concentrates in 8mm (554 strands), 6mm (477), 4mm (353), and 10mm (342) — the four sizes that cover most beaded jewelry work. Smaller 2mm and 3mm rounds (54 and 140 strands) work for accent spacers and fine-gauge stringing. 12mm (50) and 5mm (28) are stocked in narrower stone selections. Sizes are nominal; actual diameter can run ±0.3mm depending on the stone and lot, so for tight calibration work pull from a single strand where possible. -
What stones come in round cut?
Almost every stone Dakota carries is available as round somewhere in the range. The deepest selections are agate (195 strands across varieties), jasper (149), quartz (134 — clear, smoky, rose, rutilated, and more), and turquoise (107). Garnet (68), tourmaline (64), moonstone (58), opal (55), DZI agate (53), and tiger eye (48) all hold meaningful stock. Less common stones may only appear in one or two sizes — if you need a specific stone-size pairing, filter the collection or check the size tags on individual products before ordering. -
What jewelry work are round beads best for?
Rounds are the default cut for stretch bracelets, mala-style strands, classic beaded necklaces, and anywhere you want the stone's color and pattern to read without faceted sparkle. They sit predictably next to metal spacers, knot cleanly between cord, and don't catch on fabric the way faceted edges can. 6mm and 8mm are the workhorse sizes for adult bracelets; 4mm suits layered necklaces and children's pieces; 10mm and 12mm carry as statement strands or focal sections. For mixed-cut designs, smooth rounds pair well with faceted rondelles or heishi as a textural counterpoint. -
Smooth round vs faceted round — how do I choose?
Smooth rounds emphasize the stone itself — color, pattern, inclusions, chatoyancy. Faceted rounds (a separate cut in the catalog) cut small flat planes across the sphere to add light return, which reads as sparkle but slightly mutes the underlying pattern. For stones with strong figure — ocean jasper, dendritic agate, picture jasper, moss agate — smooth round shows the material better. For uniformly colored stones — garnet, amethyst, smoky quartz — faceted rounds add visible movement. Both drill the same way, so they swap cleanly in a design if you want to test the difference on a sample strand.