Wood Beads
Wood beads bring a warm, quiet palette that stone can sit against — pale whitewood and graywood, blush rosewood, red-brown bayong, the near-black stripe of tiger kamagong ebony — each strand the tree’s own color, with the grain as the pattern. Wood is light in the hand, so a long strand or a 10mm round wears easily where the same design in stone would carry real weight. Smooth rounds keep it simple; rondelles tuck between larger beads and let a mixed strand breathe.
Wood has been a bead maker’s material for as long as the trade has had a name. In medieval London the carvers of prayer beads were called paternosterers, working the streets around St Paul’s — wood and bone strung in vast quantities for ordinary hands while coral and amber went to wealthy ones — and the trade left its name on Paternoster Row. A wood that turns cleanly and takes a polish has kept bead makers in material ever since.
A mala strung all in wood is the classic case for the material: light enough to wear through a day, warm against the skin, quiet in color. Wood is traditionally associated with the natural world — said to ground a design and to warm with its wearer, taking on a soft patina that reads as time rather than wear. It is the bead chosen when a piece is meant to feel warm, easy, and close to nature.
Bayong 10mm Round 15-16 Inch
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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...
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Bayong 4mm Round - 15-16 Inch
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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 details
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$7.00
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Bayong 6mm Round - 15-16 Inch
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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 details
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$9.00
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Bayong Wood with Abalone Inlay 8mm Round Bead - 15-16 Inch
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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 wo...
View full details
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$84.00
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Gray Wood 6mm Rondelle - 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...
View full details
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Gray Wood 8mm Rondelle - 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...
View full details
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Gray Wood with Abalone Inlay 8mm Round Bead - 15-16 Inch
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Graywood 10mm 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...
View full details
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Graywood 6mm 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...
View full details
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Graywood 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...
View full details
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LIGHT Bahi (Palm) 10mm Round 15-16 Inch
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Bahi Wood comes from Palm trees. The light color indicates that it was harvested from a young tree. Young trees cannot be legally harvested, and th...
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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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Madre de Cacao Wood 6mm 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...
View full details
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Nangka 4mm Round - 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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Nangka Wood 10mm 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...
View full details
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Nangka Wood 6mm 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...
View full details
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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...
View full details
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Natural White Wood 10mm 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...
View full details
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$11.00
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Natural White Wood 6mm 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...
View full details
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$7.00
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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...
View full details
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$9.00
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Patikan Wood with Abalone Inlay 8mm Round Bead - 15-16 Inch
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Patikan is an old variety of palmwood that grows in the Philippines. The natural grain of the wood has distinct parallel black markings as if it we...
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Robles Wood 10mm Round Bead - 15-16 Inch
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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 details
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Robles Wood 6mm Round Bead - 15-16 Inch
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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 details
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$7.00
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$7.00
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Robles Wood 8mm Round Bead - 15-16 Inch
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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 from...
View full details
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$9.00
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Rosewood 10mm Rondelle Bead - 15-16 Inch
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Rosewood is a hardwood found in the Phillipines. The soft, blush color is deceptive, this wood variety is so hard that it is often used in heavy co...
View full details
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Rosewood 10mm Round Bead - 15-16 Inch
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Rosewood is a hardwood found in the Phillipines. The soft, blush color is deceptive, this wood variety is so hard that it is often used in heavy co...
View full details
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$11.00
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Rosewood 6mm Round Bead - 15-16 Inch
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Rosewood is a hardwood found in the Phillipines. The soft, blush color is deceptive, this wood variety is so hard that it is often used in heavy co...
View full details
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$7.00
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Rosewood 8mm Rondelle Bead - 15-16 Inch
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Rosewood is a hardwood found in the Phillipines. The soft, blush color is deceptive, this wood variety is so hard that it is often used in heavy co...
View full details
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$9.00
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Rosewood 8mm Round Bead - 15-16 Inch
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Rosewood is a hardwood found in the Phillipines. The soft, blush color is deceptive, this wood variety is so hard that it is often used in heavy co...
View full details
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$9.00
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The grain is the pattern
Each species carries its own color straight from the tree — whitewood a pale cream, graywood a soft ash-gray, rosewood a low blush, bayong the red-brown of mahogany, and kamagong, the Philippine ebony, deep brown to near black with a tiger stripe in some cuts. The finish is natural, so the figure of the wood does the surface work — growth lines, fine flecks, the brushed parallel marks of patikan palm. A strand matches in tone and still reads as individual beads, which is the signature of the material.
Light in the hand
Wood weighs a fraction of stone at the same size, and that changes what a design can afford — a 10mm round works in an earring, a triple strand stays comfortable, an all-wood mala wears light through the day. The color runs with the age of the tree: dark bahi palm comes from adult trees, the lighter runs from young growth. A few rounds carry inlaid abalone, a ring of iridescent shell set flush into the face of the bead.
Pick your size and cut
Wood runs 4mm to 12mm — rounds in every species, rondelles in rosewood and graywood — drilled 0.8–1.1mm on most strands for beading wire, silk, or fine cord, with the abalone-inlay rounds wider at 2mm. It sits at Mohs 2–3: keep it dry, wipe with a soft cloth, and an occasional pass of natural oil brings the luster back. It grounds warm stone — carnelian, tiger eye, jasper — and sits beside the other organics, horn and bone.
About this stone
Color
BrownTanBlackCreamRed
Origin
PhilippinesIndonesia
Mohs hardness
2–3
Treatment categories
Natural
Industry-standard treatment
Natural — sourced from sustainably grown ethnobotanical species; no dye, treatment, or color enhancement
Mineral chemistry
Cellulose and lignin (organic, not a mineral)
Crystal system
Amorphous
Stone family
Organic wood
Common cuts
RoundRondelleTubeHeishi
Common sizes
4mm6mm8mm10mm12mm
Care notes
Soft organic material (Mohs 2–3). Avoid ultrasonic, prolonged water, harsh chemicals; soft dry cloth, occasional natural oil to maintain luster.
Related stones
Petrified Wood, Horn, Bone
Frequently asked questions
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Where do your wood beads come from?
Most of our active wood-bead inventory is sourced from Indonesia, with some material from the Philippines. Both regions have established hardwood bead industries that supply the global jewelry-making and craft markets. The species in this collection — bayong, robles, palmwood, nangka, whitewood, ebony, rosewood — are indigenous to Southeast Asia. Origin should be disclosed; ask before buying if it isn't specified. -
Are your wood beads dyed or natural?
The dominant finish in this collection is natural — the wood color you see is the wood's intrinsic color, with grain variation that is part of the appeal. A small number of strands are dyed for specific color effects (deep brown, black, indigo blue). Dye and finish status should be disclosed; ask before buying if a strand doesn't specify. -
How do wood beads compare to gemstone beads in durability?
Wood is softer than gemstone — wood beads can scratch, dent, or compress against harder beads on the same strand and against hard surfaces in ordinary wear. For mixed wood-and-stone designs, consider a small metal bead, knot, or seed bead as a spacer where wear-rubbing matters. Wood is also hygroscopic and responds to humidity — avoid prolonged water exposure, and occasionally condition natural-finish strands with a light wood oil (jojoba, mineral, or beeswax). -
What sizes and shapes do wood beads come in?
Wood beads run 4mm to 12mm, with 6mm, 8mm, and 10mm rounds the core of the range and rondelles in select species such as rosewood and graywood. Round is the classic wood cut — it shows the grain cleanly and strings into an even, comfortable strand. Each listing states the exact size, shape, and strand length. -
Can I use wood beads for macramé or larger-hole stringing?
Most strands here are drilled 0.8–1.1mm, sized for beading wire, silk, and fine cord; the abalone-inlay rounds run wider at about 2mm. Hole diameter is listed per strand — match the stringing material to it. Wood is kind to a bead reamer, so a tight hole can be eased gently where a design calls for cord.