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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.

Golden Tiger Eye 10mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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

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Rhodochrosite 6mm Round A 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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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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Trolleite 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $22.00 - Original price $22.00
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Trolleite is an extremely rare aluminum phosphate mineral that crystallizes in the form of masses and small prismatic crystals. It is made up of qu...

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Gold Rutilated Quartz 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Rutilated Quartz is a silicon dioxide mineral with unique needle to like inclusions of Rutile. These “needles” usually appear golden, but can also ...

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Iolite 4mm Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $18.00 - Original price $18.00
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Current price $18.00
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Iolite most commonly occurs in shades of blue to gray, violet or indigo. It displays a visual property called “pleochroism,” which means that it ca...

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Black Lepidolite 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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A particularly soft stone, Lepidolite has a glassy or lustrous sheen. It is the most abundant lithium-bearing mineral as well as a significant sour...

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Azurite 6mm Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $31.00 - Original price $31.00
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Azurite is a Copper carbonate mineral that forms in masses, stalactites, botryoidal, and short prismatic crystals. Azurite in crystal form is extre...

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Azurite 8mm Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

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Azurite is a Copper carbonate mineral that forms in masses, stalactites, botryoidal, and short prismatic crystals. Azurite in crystal form is extre...

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Green Garnet 4mm Microfaceted Round - 15-16 Inch

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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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Labradorite 4mm Microfaceted Round AAA 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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Pink Tourmaline with Lepidolite 4mm Microfaceted Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

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Pink Tourmaline ranges in color from light pink to deep magenta, with inclusions of white to colorless translucent or transparent. Tourmaline occur...

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Pietersite 4mm Microfaceted Round - 15-16 Inch

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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...

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Lapis Matte 8.5mm Round - 8-Inch

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Lapis is a semi to precious stone and one of the most sought after throughout history. It is highly regarded for its beautiful blue color flecked w...

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Phantom Quartz Natural 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Phantom Quartz form over pre to existing crystals. The boundaries of the included crystals are visible and are known as “phantoms.” Phantom Quartz ...

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Australian Chrysoprase 3mm Round Faceted A Grade Banded - 15-16 Inch

Original price $26.00 - Original price $26.00
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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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Iolite with Flash 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Iolite most commonly occurs in shades of blue to gray, violet or indigo. It displays a visual property called “pleochroism,” which means that it ca...

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Ametrine 8mm Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $34.00 - Original price $34.00
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Ametrine is quartz that occurs in bands of purple and yellow. As the name suggests, it is a combination of Amethyst and Citrine. The different colo...

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Rose Quartz 10mm Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

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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...

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Black 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. It's soft chatoyancy is remin...

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Diopside 4mm Round Faceted A Grade - 15-16 Inch

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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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Bicolor Sunstone 10mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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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...

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Australian Chrysoprase 4mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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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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Hubei Turquoise Banded Blue/Brown/Black 4mm Round Faceted - 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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DZI Line Agate 10mm Round Brown- 15-16 Inch

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“DZI” Agate is made to resemble beads first found in India between 1000 and 2000 BCE. These reproductions are designed in the traditional color, pa...

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Emerald 4mm Round Faceted - 15-16 Inch

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Emerald is one of the four “precious” gemstones, the others being Diamond, Ruby and Sapphire. It is the green form of Beryl, colored by trace amoun...

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African Blood Stone 4mm 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 to green to green wi...

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African Jade with Quartz 4mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Pink Mica Quartz 6mm Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

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Mica is a mineral name given to a group of minerals that are physically and chemically similar. They are all silicate minerals, known as sheet sil...

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Orange Garnet 4mm Round - 8-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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Magnesite (Dyed) Purple 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Magnesite is a soft mineral best known for being dyed to imitate other gemstones. Natural magnesite stones are usually white with a dark web-like p...

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Magnesite (Dyed) Blue 4mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Magnesite is a soft mineral best known for being dyed to imitate other gemstones. Natural magnesite stones are usually white with a dark web-like p...

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Magnesite (Dyed) Turquoise Blue 4mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Magnesite is a soft mineral best known for being dyed to imitate other gemstones. Natural magnesite stones are usually white with a dark web-like p...

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Magnesite (Dyed) Green 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Magnesite is a soft mineral best known for being dyed to imitate other gemstones. Natural magnesite stones are usually white with a dark web-like p...

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Tektite Natural 8mm Round Faceted - 15-16 Inch

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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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Green Goldstone 10mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Green Goldstone is an opaque, almost black glass with flecks of copper suspended within it. These flecks glitter as they catch the light and appear...

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Blue Tiger Eye 8mm Round AAA Grade - 15-16 Inch

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Blue Tiger Eye is a naturally occurring dark stone with chatoyant layers that create a flash which seems to emanate from within the stone as they c...

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Natural White Wood 8mm Round Bead- 15-16 Inch

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Like all of Dakota Stones items, our wood beads are top quality and sourced from the best ethically produced manufacturers. Natural wood beads have...

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Blue Topaz 6mm Faceted Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $41.00 - Original price $41.00
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Topaz is a rare silicate mineral and obtains much of its popularity from its beautiful colors and its status as a birthstone. Topaz occurs in a wi...

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New Jade 4mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Jade is the industry name for this beautiful deep green stone. Ours is actually a Serpentine, but takes a trained eye and a microscope to discern t...

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Dumortierite 4mm Round AAA Grade - 15-16 Inch

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Dumortierite is an aluminum borosilicate mineral that varies in color from blue, green and brown to the more rare violet and pink. First described ...

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YooperLIKE 10mm Round - 16-Inch Strands

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YooperLIKE is a Syenite rock that is rich with fluorescent Sodalite. While fairly nondescript under normal lighting conditions, YooperLIKE explodes...

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Mixed Dark Lepidocrocite 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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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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Banded Mixed Beryl (Morganite) 6mm Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

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A relatively rare silicate mineral found in igneous and metamorphic rocks around the world, Beryl is generally clear, while its variations in color...

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Banded Mixed Beryl (Morganite) 8mm Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

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A relatively rare silicate mineral found in igneous and metamorphic rocks around the world, Beryl is generally clear, while its variations in color...

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Atlantisite Stichtite 4mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Stichtite is a mineral, a carbonate of chromium and magnesium. Its color ranges from pink through lilac to a rich purple color. Discovered in 1910 ...

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Blue Topaz 4mm Microfaceted Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

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Topaz is a rare silicate mineral and obtains much of its popularity from its beautiful colors and its status as a birthstone. Topaz occurs in a wi...

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Morocco Red Agate 4mm Microfaceted Round - 15-16 Inch

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Morocco Agate occurs in striking colors of red, white, golden tan, gray and purple, in a variety of swirling and linear patterns. Like other Agates...

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Tourmaline 8mm Faceted Round Large Hole - 8-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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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.