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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.

Tektite Natural 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $149.00 - Original price $149.00
Original price $149.00
$149.00 - $149.00
Current price $149.00
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Tektite is a natural glass formed by meteorite collisions with Earth. When moving through the Earth’s atmosphere, a meteorite builds up heat that i...

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Original price $149.00 - Original price $149.00
Original price $149.00
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Current price $149.00
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Ruby and Sapphire 8mm Faceted Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $80.00 - Original price $80.00
Original price $80.00
$80.00 - $80.00
Current price $80.00
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Ruby has long been considered one of the most beautiful and valuable gemstones on the planet. It is also one of the hardest, second only to Diamond...

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Original price $80.00 - Original price $80.00
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Current price $80.00
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Larimar 8mm Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $144.00 - Original price $144.00
Original price $144.00
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Current price $144.00
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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 $144.00 - Original price $144.00
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Current price $144.00
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Russian Amazonite 8mm Round AA Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $54.00 - Original price $54.00
Original price $54.00
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Current price $54.00
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Russian Amazonite is a translucent blue to green to green or light green stone, occurring with inclusions of white, black or yellow. It is named fo...

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Original price $54.00 - Original price $54.00
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Current price $54.00
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Mookaite 8mm Round - 8-Inch

Original price $9.00 - Original price $9.00
Original price $9.00
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Current price $9.00
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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...

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Wampum Shell 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $132.00 - Original price $132.00
Original price $132.00
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Current price $132.00
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Wampum is made from one of the hardest and most beautiful shells in the world: the Northern Quahog, a clam found along the New England coast. The w...

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Blue Moonstone with Black Dot 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $18.00 - Original price $18.00
Original price $18.00
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Current price $18.00
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Moonstone naturally occurs in a broad spectrum of colors, but is most commonly associated with white, gray and peach. It's soft chatoyancy is remin...

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Green Garnet 8mm Round Banded - 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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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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Madagascar Green Dendritic Opal 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $20.00 - Original price $20.00
Original price $20.00
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Current price $20.00
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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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Astrophyllite 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $24.00 - Original price $24.00
Original price $24.00
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Current price $24.00
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Astrophyllite is a very rare, brown to golden-yellow hydrous potassium iron titanium silicate mineral. Astrophyllite gets its name from the Greek w...

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Rhodonite with Matrix 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $14.00 - Original price $14.00
Original price $14.00
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Current price $14.00
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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...

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Glass Evil Eye White with Sky Blue 8mm Round - 14-15 Inch

Original price $11.00 - Original price $11.00
Original price $11.00
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Current price $11.00
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These aren't gemstones but these glass beads will pair nicely with them!  A classic Mediterranean symbol reimagined for modern jewelry design. Thes...

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Original price $11.00 - Original price $11.00
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Noreena Jasper 8mm Round - 15-16 inch

Original price $16.00 - Original price $16.00
Original price $16.00
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Current price $16.00
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Noreena Jasper is a silicified pelite or mudstone mined in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is known for its abstract designs in rusty r...

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Mixed Dark Lepidocrocite 8mm Round - 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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An iron oxide-hydroxide mineral, Lepidocrocite forms when iron-containing substances rust underwater. It is commonly found in the weathering of pri...

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Phosphosiderite 8mm Round AA Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $63.00 - Original price $63.00
Original price $63.00
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Current price $63.00
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Phosphosiderite is a combination of phosphorus and iron. It occurs in hues of lilac to purple with inclusions of mottled gray. Metaphysically, it’s...

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Diopside 8mm Round - 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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Diopside is a calcium and magnesium silicate mineral. It is transparent or translucent, and can display a nearly emerald green color due to the pre...

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Aquamarine 8mm Round AAA Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $77.00 - Original price $77.00
Original price $77.00
$77.00 - $77.00
Current price $77.00
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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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Original price $77.00 - Original price $77.00
Original price $77.00
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Current price $77.00
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Australian Chrysoprase AA 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $57.00 - Original price $57.00
Original price $57.00
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Current price $57.00
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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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Rainbow Ocean Agate 8mm Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $25.00 - Original price $25.00
Original price $25.00
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Current price $25.00
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Original price $25.00 - Original price $25.00
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Current price $25.00
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Bicolor Moonstone 8mm Round AA Grade - 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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Moonstone naturally occurs in a broad spectrum of colors, but is most commonly associated with white, gray and peach. It's soft chatoyancy is remin...

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Original price $36.00 - Original price $36.00
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Golden Grey Moonstone 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $18.00 - Original price $18.00
Original price $18.00
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Current price $18.00
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Grey Moonstone is named for its grey glow or chatoyancy, as well as a prismatic quality that differentiates it from other varieties of Moonstone. M...

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Glass Evil Eye Multi Color 8mm Round - 14-15 Inch

Original price $11.00 - Original price $11.00
Original price $11.00
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Current price $11.00
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These aren't gemstones but these glass beads will pair nicely with them!  A classic Mediterranean symbol reimagined for modern jewelry design. Thes...

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Original price $11.00 - Original price $11.00
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Current price $11.00
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Sieber Agate 8mm Round AA Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $54.00 - Original price $54.00
Original price $54.00
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Current price $54.00
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Sieber agate is not a true agate but rather a glassy, dark blue-grey or green copper slag that formed during ancient copper smelting in Germany, sp...

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Variscite 8mm Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $45.00 - Original price $45.00
Original price $45.00
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Current price $45.00
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Variscite is a hydrated aluminum phosphate is formed when phosphate-rich water reacts with aluminum-rich rocks near the surface. In its purest form...

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Blue Moonstone 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $45.00 - Original price $45.00
Original price $45.00
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Current price $45.00
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Moonstone naturally occurs in a broad spectrum of colors, but is most commonly associated with white, gray and peach. It's soft chatoyancy is remin...

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Original price $45.00 - Original price $45.00
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Flower Agate 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $18.00 - Original price $18.00
Original price $18.00
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Current price $18.00
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Flower Agate is a type of Agate with opaque Chalcedony inclusions that resemble tiny floral formations. This mineral is a recent find out of Madaga...

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Prehnite 8mm Round AAA Grade - 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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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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Green Lodalite Quartz 8mm Round - Large Hole Beads

Original price $18.00 - Original price $18.00
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Green Lodolite is Quartz with inclusions of sand. These inclusions range broadly in type and color and produce patterns that can look like gardens....

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Crystal Quartz 8mm Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $23.00 - Original price $23.00
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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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Eagle Eye Stone 8mm Round - 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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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 ...

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Rhodochrosite with Wood Quartz 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Regular Price $58.00
Original price $58.00 - Original price $58.00
Original price $58.00
Sale Price $39.00
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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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Sale Sale

Lemon Quartz 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $22.00 - Original price $22.00
Original price $22.00
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Lemon Quartz is a trade name for color-enhanced yellow quartz. Gamma ray irradiation, followed by a mild heat treatment gives it the bright yellow ...

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Red Malachite 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $31.00 - Original price $31.00
Original price $31.00
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Current price $31.00
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Malachite is a copper carbonate with a bright green color and dark green banding. Usually found near copper deposits, it is formed through the comb...

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Glass Evil Eye Black 8mm Round - 14-15 Inch

Original price $11.00 - Original price $11.00
Original price $11.00
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Current price $11.00
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These aren't gemstones but these glass beads will pair nicely with them!  A classic Mediterranean symbol reimagined for modern jewelry design. Thes...

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Original price $11.00 - Original price $11.00
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Rainbow Rutilated Quartz 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $23.00 - Original price $23.00
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Current 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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Ice Amazonite 8mm Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $31.00 - Original price $31.00
Original price $31.00
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Current price $31.00
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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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Serpentine 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $9.00 - Original price $9.00
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Green Grass Jasper is an opaque blue-green to yellow-green with black inclusions forming marbled patterns in the stone. Green Jasper was known as a...

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Multi Sapphire 8mm Faceted Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $292.00 - Original price $292.00
Original price $292.00
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Current price $292.00
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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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Iron Zebra Jasper 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Iron Zebra Jasper displays streaks or stripes of colors ranging from dark, rich browns and grays to lighter golden browns and creams. It has charac...

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Peach Moonstone 8mm Round AA Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $31.00 - Original price $31.00
Original price $31.00
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Current price $31.00
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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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Glass Evil Eye Blue 8mm Round - 14-15 Inch

Original price $11.00 - Original price $11.00
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Current price $11.00
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These aren't gemstones but these glass beads will pair nicely with them!  A classic Mediterranean symbol reimagined for modern jewelry design. Thes...

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Original price $11.00 - Original price $11.00
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Glass Evil Eye Purple 8mm Round - 14-15 Inch

Original price $11.00 - Original price $11.00
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Current price $11.00
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These aren't gemstones but these glass beads will pair nicely with them! 

Original price $11.00 - Original price $11.00
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Current price $11.00
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Scapolite Cat's Eye Red 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $75.00 - Original price $75.00
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Original price $75.00 - Original price $75.00
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Pink Rhodochrosite With Matrix 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $40.00 - Original price $40.00
Original price $40.00
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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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Hackmanite 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $31.00 - Original price $31.00
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Discovered in Greenland in the late 1890's, hackmanite is named for Finnish geologist Victor Hackman. It is a rare occurrence to find gem-grade hac...

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Black Moonstone 8mm Round - 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. It's soft chatoyancy is remin...

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Peruvian Rhodochrosite 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $21.00 - Original price $21.00
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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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Original price $21.00 - Original price $21.00
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Petrified Wood Opalite 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $23.00 - Original price $23.00
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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 ...

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About this cut

Round bead shape diagram
Cut name
Round
Drill style
Center-drilled
Typical sizes
8mm6mm4mm10mm3mm2mm12mm5mm
Stones in this cut
AgateJasperQuartzTurquoiseGarnetTourmalineMoonstoneOpalDZI AgateTiger EyeAmazoniteSapphire
Common uses
stretch braceletsmala and prayer-style strandsclassic beaded necklacesmulti-strand layered designsknotted silk or cord necklacesuniform color-block sections in mixed-cut workmen's beaded bracelets in 8mm and 10mm
Related cuts
Faceted Round, Microfaceted Round, Oval
Design notes
Round is the most forgiving cut to design around — predictable diameter, predictable drill, predictable drape. Scale by wrist or neck: 6mm and 8mm cover most adult bracelet work, 4mm reads delicate on a necklace, 10mm+ carries as statement scale. Rounds pair cleanly with faceted rondelles, heishi, or metal spacers when you want textural contrast without breaking the silhouette. For stones with strong pattern, smooth round shows the material better than the faceted-round sibling cut; for uniform-color stones, faceted rounds add sparkle the smooth cut can't.

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.