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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.

Bicolor Sunstone 4mm 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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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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Jadeite 10mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $60.00 - Original price $60.00
Original price $60.00
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Current price $60.00
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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...

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Australian Chrysoprase 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $22.00 - Original price $22.00
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Current price $22.00
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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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Aquamarine 4mm Faceted Round Banded AAA Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $28.00 - Original price $28.00
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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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Hubei Turquoise Multi 2mm 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 Turtle 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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Topaz 5mm Faceted Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $33.00 - Original price $33.00
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Current price $33.00
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Original price $33.00 - Original price $33.00
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Selenite 10mm Round Pastel Rainbow (Dyed) - 15-16 Inch

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Selenite is a crystal formed from the mineral gypsum, which comes in many forms and color variations, but has been used historically to describe th...

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Hubei Turquoise 5mm Green/Yellow Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $26.00 - Original price $26.00
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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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Verdite 10mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $27.00 - Original price $27.00
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Verdite is a light to dark-green metamorphic rock, and is a variety of Fuchsite, which is itself a form of Muscovite. It appears green because of t...

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Selenite 10mm Round Purple Pink (Dyed) - 15-16 Inch

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Selenite is a crystal formed from the mineral gypsum, which comes in many forms and color variations, but has been used historically to describe th...

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

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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Azurite 4mm Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $31.00 - Original price $31.00
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Current 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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Citrine 10mm Round AAA Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $58.00 - Original price $58.00
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Current price $58.00
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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...

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Golden Grey Moonstone 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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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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Red Black Super Seven 10mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $41.00 - Original price $41.00
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Super 7, also known as Melody's Stone, is a rare, naturally occurring rock composed of seven specific minerals: amethyst, clear quartz, smoky quart...

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Multi Spinel 4mm Faceted Round AA Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $32.00 - Original price $32.00
Original price $32.00
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Current price $34.00
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Spinel is a hard vitreous magnesium aluminum oxide, and comes in a range of other colors, but those varieties are transparent. Black Spinel not onl...

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Hubei Cool Blue Turquoise 6mm Round AA Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $62.00 - Original price $62.00
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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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Botswana Agate 6mm Round - 8-Inch

Original price $11.00 - Original price $11.00
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Botswana Agate displays highly defined parallel banding, usually in white on hues of brown, gray, pink, tan, apricot and purplish red. Botswana Aga...

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Botswana Agate 8mm Round - 8-Inch

Original price $14.00 - Original price $14.00
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Botswana Agate displays highly defined parallel banding, usually in white on hues of brown, gray, pink, tan, apricot and purplish red. Botswana Aga...

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Lemurian Aquatine Calcite 6mm Round - 8-Inch

Original price $12.00 - Original price $12.00
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Calcite is the one of the most common minerals. It occurs in a great variety of shapes and colors, and it constitutes a major portion of many of th...

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Magnesite (Dyed) Hot Pink 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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Topaz Dendritic 4mm Round Faceted - 15-16 Inch

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Original price $23.00 - Original price $23.00
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Glass Evil Eye Multi Color 8mm Round - 14-15 Inch

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

Original price $54.00 - Original 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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Noreena Jasper 10mm Round - 15-16 inch

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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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Strawberry Quartz Cherry 10mm Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $25.00 - Original price $25.00
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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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Tiger Eye 16mm Round - 15-16 Inch

Original price $38.00 - Original price $38.00
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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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Peruvian Chrysocolla 6mm Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

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Chrysocolla, a hydrous copper silicate, is often mistaken for turquoise due to its rich blues and blue to greens. It often also occurs with colors ...

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Orange Calcite 10mm Round AAA Grade - 15-16 Inch

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Calcite is a rock-forming mineral that is extremely common and found throughout the world in sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks. Calcite i...

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Seraphinite 4mm Faceted Round AAA Grade - 15-16 Inch

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Seraphinite's chatoyancy (optical reflectance) gives it a feathery appearance associated with angels (also known as seraphim.) Seraphinite is most ...

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Carnelian 12mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Carnelian is a glassy, translucent stone that can appear with such bright orange hues that the ancient Egyptians called it “the setting sun.” Most ...

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Crystal Quartz 6mm Round A Grade - 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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Variscite 8mm Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

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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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Orange Garnet 6mm 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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Blue 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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Diopside 6mm Round - 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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Flower Agate 8mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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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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Azurite 10mm Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

Original price $76.00 - Original price $76.00
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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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Larimar 4mm Faceted Round AA Grade - 15-16 Inch

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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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Atlantisite Stichtite 12 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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African Turquoise 4mm Microfaceted Round - 15-16 Inch

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African Turquoise is not actually Turquoise, but rather a speckled teal Jasper found in Africa and often treated to simulate the beautiful blue to ...

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Light Amethyst 4mm Microfaceted Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

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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 ...

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Dark Blue Sapphire 4mm Microfaceted Round A Grade - 15-16 Inch

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Metaphysically, all sapphires are considered stones of wisdom, however different colors have additional attributes such as enhanced emotional resil...

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Tourmaline 4mm Banded Blue/Green Microfaceted 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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Magnesite (Dyed) Green 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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Tsavorite Green Garnet 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch

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Green Garnet can be among the most valuable of garnets, especially Tsavorite Garnet. Occurring in sizes ranging from a grain of sand to the size of...

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Rainbow Moonstone 10mm Round Banded - 15-16 Inch

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Rainbow Moonstone is named for its moon-like glow or chatoyancy, as well as a prismatic quality that differentiates it from other varieties of Moon...

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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.