Vintage Gemstones, Statement Beads, & Scarcity   Introduction At our gemstone manufacturing company, we are constantly in pursuit of rare and unique gemstones that showcase the true beauty of Mother Nature. Recently, Jeff, our chief gemstone hunter, was able to source some incredible vintage quality strands and some gorgeous statement beads. These strands represent the rarity of shapes, sizes, and quality that are no longer being produced today. Rarity of Shapes and Sizes The strands we discovered and sourced feature shapes and sizes that are becoming increasingly rare. Many ski ..read more

Gemstone Focals & Cabochons At Dakota Stones, we love gemstone focals! Pendants, cabs, and donuts can elevate a jewelry design and create contrast and dimension to an otherwise simple piece.   Druzy Agate Pendants are beautiful organically shaped pendants. No two will be exactly alike in shape, size, and color! Druzy is created when water deposits crystals onto a rock’s surface. When the water evaporates and cooling occurs, the minerals are left behind and form into crystals on the rock. Plated Slice Pendants come in silver colored plating and gold co ..read more

Natural Beads Dakota Stones offers beads in many other natural materials than just gemstone! Shell, wood, and bone are just a few varieties of natural beads that we carry, and all of them are just as beautiful as the next.   Muonionalusta Meteorites were first found in 1909 by Swedish kids playing in the village of Kitkiöjärvi, and this monumental discovery has been dated back to falling out of the sky a over million of years ago. Its unique exterior appearance and texture is formed due to the meteorite's extremely low cooling rate when it enters the Earth's atmosphere. These ..read more

The Difference in Facets    Introduction Here at Dakota Stones, we offer multiple facets in most of our stone types to give you a variety of looks in your designs. We pride ourselves on offering faceting with precision, quality, and sparkle, and we are constantly looking for new facet types and styles! Different facets and cuts are created in different ways - some hand cut, some laser cut, all beautiful in their own way. Below are some of our most popular facets.     Diamond Cut/Regular Facet Our largest category of faceted beads fall into a broad category. Faceted gemsto ..read more

Challenges of Consistency: Dakota Stones 8-Inch Strand Line I’m sure we are all tired of hearing about supply chain issues, but they have been especially challenging in the Gemstone industry mainly as it relates to rough supply. Making pretty little rocks requires a lot of steps and a variety of players to carry out those steps. And it all begins with the rough rock.  Dakota Stones branded 8-Inch product line creates a few challenges during our production process. The first is we built our line around many unique Jaspers and Agates that are mined in North America because we bel ..read more

Discovering Vintage Gemstones in Modern Time Introduction At our gemstone manufacturing company, we are constantly in pursuit of rare and unique gemstones that showcase the true beauty of Mother Nature. Recently, Jeff, our chief gemstone hunter, met with an old cutting partner who shared with us some incredible vintage quality strands. These strands represent the rarity of shapes, sizes, and quality that are no longer being produced today. Rarity of Shapes and Sizes The older cut strands we discovered feature shapes and sizes that are becoming increasingly rare. Many skilled lapidary artists ..read more

What is Cubic Zirconia?   Introduction to Synthetic Gemstones Synthetic, man-made, lab grown: it all means the essentially the same thing, but that doesn’t have to deter you from purchasing stones that are not naturally formed. Almost always, synthetic gemstones are a cost-effective, accessible alternative to natural gemstones, but they are just as beautiful and useful! Jewelry designers often choose synthetic gemstones when making high volume designs.     Introduction to Cubic Zirconia Cubic Zirconia is a well-known diamond alternative. Commonly known as CZ, it is grown in a l ..read more

Purple and Black Gemstones & Fluorite Lore     Another Introduction to Stones and Color When picking out stones to wear as jewelry, keep in your home, or any other situation or environment, color is very important to consider. Gemstone colors have different metaphysical properties and energies so no two will be exactly the same. Even stones within the same color family can have very different properties and uses! Like we mentioned in our last blog, certain colors are associated with some notable properties, chakras, and more. Last week we focused on blue gemstones and how they em ..read more

Stone Bead Hole Sizes Introduction to Bead Hole Sizes More than ever we've been receiving questions about the size of our stone bead holes. As more and more stringing materials are being made and used in jewelry designs, the more challenges have been popping up as well. Bead holes come in a wide variety of sizes and are made for a variety of reasons. For example, glass beads have a very consistent hole because the beads are made from molds. Freshwater pearls have a very small hole normally, and raw diamond beads have the tiniest hole in the bead world.   Difficulties with Gemstone B ..read more

The Origin and History of Sunstone There are many different stories of how Sunstone came to be and how it was used, most notably involving Greek Mythology, Nordic Mythology, and Native American culture. Ancient Greeks thought the stone was a representation of their Sun God named Ra. They believed that it fell from the sun during a solar eclipse and in turn was a gift from Ra. Nordic Vikings used Sunstone as a compass because the shimmer and reflection from the sun created a sort of guidance for them. Native Americans believed the stone had healing powers and it was used in treating their peop ..read more