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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.

Artistic Jasper 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Artistic Stone has beautiful, intricate patterns of minute black flecks, bands, and veins within the tan, cream, gray and mauve stone. It is made u...

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River Stone 10mm Round 15-16 Inch

Original price $19.00 - Original price $19.00
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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...

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Yellow Opal Faceted AA-Grade Banded 4mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Yellow Opal is transparent to opaque, milky white to pale yellow in color. It sometimes features dark brown to black dendritic inclusions that bran...

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White Porcelain Agate 6mm Round - 15-16 inch

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Porcelain Agate is a natural agate that is dyed and heated to give it a pattern that resembles porcelain.

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Cubic Zirconia (CZ) Peach 3mm Round Faceted - 15-16 Inch

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Cubic Zirconia, abbreviated as CZ, is a lab-made form of zirconium dioxide. Made to resemble Diamonds, these stones offer the same beauty and spark...

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Rainbow Obsidian 6mm Round - 15-16 inch

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Rainbow Obsidian earned its name from the chatoyant, rainbow effect of light refracting off of the air bubbles inside of the stone. Like all obsidi...

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DZI Agate 10mm Round Black Line Pattern - 15-16 Inch

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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...

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Crystal Quartz 12mm Round - 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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White Porcelain Agate 10mm Matte Round - 15-16 inch

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Porcelain Agate is a natural agate that is dyed and heated to give it a pattern that resembles porcelain.

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Aquamarine 4mm Round Faceted A Grade Banded - 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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Multi Tourmaline 3mm Round Faceted- 15-16 Inch

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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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Red Jasper 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Red Jasper is an aggregate of microcrystalline quartz and/or chalcedony and other minerals. The opaque stone’s red color is due to high iron conten...

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Prehnite with Rutilate 4mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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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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Goldstone 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Goldstone is a manmade material, consisting of opaque rust to red glass with tiny flecks of glittering copper suspended within it. Goldstone was fi...

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Peach Moonstone 10mm 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. Its soft chatoyancy is remini...

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Hubei Turquoise 3mm Round Light Blue Matrix - 15-16 inch

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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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Cubic Zirconia (CZ) Carnelian 3mm Round Faceted - 15-16 Inch

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Cubic Zirconia, abbreviated as CZ, is a lab-made form of zirconium dioxide. Made to resemble Diamonds, these stones offer the same beauty and spark...

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Blue Apatite 10mm Round A Grade - Large Hole Beads

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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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Multi Tourmaline 4mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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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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White Porcelain Agate 8mm Matte Round - 15-16 inch

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Porcelain Agate is a natural agate that is dyed and heated to give it a pattern that resembles porcelain.

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Malachite 3mm Round Faceted A Grade - 15-16 Inch

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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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Dalmation Jasper 4mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Dalmation Jasper is the trade name for Dalmation Stone, which is not Jasper but rather a combination of Feldspar and Quartz. It is opaque, creamy w...

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DZI Agate 10mm Round Watermelon Black/White - 15-16 Inch

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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...

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Lava 10mm Round - Large Hole Beads

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Lava is rock from the molten center of the earth, once spewed through fractures in the planetary crust or from a volcanic eruption. Once cooled, th...

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Turquoise and Spiny Oyster 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Turquoise is an ancient gemstone, one of the first known to man. Known to Egyptian and Aztec cultures thousands of years ago, Turquoise is now mine...

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Labradorite Plated 8mm Round Faceted - 15-16 Inch - CLEARANCE

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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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Sage Agate 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Distinctive for its purple-and-gray tones, Sage Agate forms in volcanish ash, and features dark manganese dendrites throughout. The stone can also ...

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Blue Black Porcelain Agate 10mm Round - 15-16 inch

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Porcelain Agate is a natural agate that is dyed and heated to give it the unique blue/black color and pattern that resembles porcelain.

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Strawberry Quartz Cherry 6mm Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

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Strawberry Quartz is a translucent, milky to pink silicon dioxide mineral. Its needle to like inclusions of hematite are iridescent red. Quartz has...

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Multi Tourmaline 6mm Star Cut Round 15-16 Inch

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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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Labradorite 8mm Round Dark A-Grade - 15-16 Inch

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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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Lemurian Aquatine Calcite 10mm Round- 15-16 Inch (Blue Onyx)

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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...

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River Stone 6mm Round - Large Hole Beads

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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...

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Madre de Cacao Wood 10mm Round Bead - 15-16 Inch

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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...

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Bloodstone 6mm Round 15-16 Inch

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Bloodstone most commonly refers to green Jasper with red inclusions consisting of Hematite. Naturally occuring in hues of blue-green to green with ...

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Bronzite 8mm Round 15-16 Inch

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Bronzite is a brown stone with a bronze to colored metallic luster due to iron deposits within the stone. An orthoproxene mineral, it is believed t...

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Graphic Feldspar 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Feldspars are a group of rock-forming aluminum tectosilicate minerals, containing sodium, calcium, potassium or barium. The most common members of ...

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Orange Garnet 10mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Orange or Hessonite Garnet is sometimes called “Cinnamon Stone” for its orange to orange to brown color as well as for its origin in the land of sp...

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Flower Jade 4mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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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...

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Azurite 4mm Faceted Round - 15-16 Inch

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Azurite is a soft, deep-blue copper mineral produced by weathering of copper ore deposits. It is best known for its characteristic deep blue to vio...

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Cubic Zirconia (CZ) Light Green 3mm Round Faceted - 15-16 Inch

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Cubic Zirconia, abbreviated as CZ, is a lab-made form of zirconium dioxide. Made to resemble Diamonds, these stones offer the same beauty and spark...

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Hubei Turquoise Natural Light Blue 2mm Round Faceted A Grade - 15-16 Inch

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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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Rhodonite 10mm Round With Matrix - Large Hole Beads

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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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Nangka Wood 8mm Round Bead - 15-16 Inch

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Nangka is the name commonly used in the Philippines for the Jackfruit Tree, which can be found throughout South and Southeast Asia. Its proper name...

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Australian Butter Jasper 10mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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The description, “buttery,” has been often applied to unlikely products, and it might be easy to understand why. “Butter” suggests qualities of smo...

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Azurite 3mm Faceted Round - 15-16 Inch

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Graphic Feldspar 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Feldspars are a group of rock-forming aluminum tectosilicate minerals, containing sodium, calcium, potassium or barium. The most common members of ...

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Silver Crazy Lace Agate 10mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Silver Crazy Lace Agate is a naturally occurring form of Crazy Lace Agate, a banded Chalcedony that is predominantly white with layers of brown, gr...

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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.