Practical notes on choosing, using, and caring for gemstone beads. Browse the guides, then get in touch for details about a particular strand.
Yes, within limits. Multi-strand and end-of-show discounts are common, and asking "What is your price for five strands?" works better than haggling on one. Cash can help a little because of card fees and faster checkout, but many vendors still prefer cards for records. Be polite, accept a no, and focus on bundles.
Yes. InterGem is a traveling public gem and jewelry show held in many US cities. Bead buyers will find a strong mix of gemstone strand vendors, pearls, findings and some tools. You will see fewer seed bead specialists and niche lampwork compared to bead-only festivals, so plan your list around gemstone strands and metal components.
No, you don't need a resale license to buy at public shows like InterGem; anyone can shop there. You'll only need a state seller's permit if you want wholesale-only access or to buy tax-exempt for resale. In California, apply online through the state tax agency, print the permit, and bring copies to shows that have wholesale sections.
About 23 of 6 mm with a clasp, or about 29 for a 7 inch stretch bracelet with no clasp. For the same length, expect about 17 of 8 mm or 35 of 4 mm with a clasp, and about 22 of 8 mm on stretch. Use beads per inch to fine tune.
Labradorite is a plagioclase feldspar whose blue to gold flash, called labradorescence, comes from light bouncing between thin internal layers. To judge a strand, tilt it under one point light and count how many beads show face-up color. More even, face-filling flashes across more beads signals a stronger strand for stringing.
Bead size is the bead's diameter measured in millimeters. A 4 mm bead is about the width of a grain of rice, and there are 25.4 mm in an inch. Choose 2 to 3 mm for dainty layering, 4 to 6 mm for everyday necklaces, and 8 mm for classic bracelets. These sizes string cleanly and wear comfortably.
Both are feldspars. Labradorite shows directional blue to gold flashes from a dark gray body. Moonstone shows a soft blue or white glow from a milky body. What many sellers call "rainbow moonstone" is actually white labradorite. We sort by body color first, then watch how the sheen turns on and off as we tilt the strand.
String faceted sapphire on flexible multi-strand beading cable sized to fit your bead holes, because facet edges can cut thread during wear. Use silk only for pearls and other smooth beads you want knotted between each bead. With cable and proper crimps you get strength, clean drape and dependable finishes for daily wear.
Gemstone notes for jewelry makers. Ask Anish to confirm the current strand, price and availability.
Run the strand through your fingers to feel for chips or rough spots. Hold it to the light to see if the color matches across beads. Use a loupe to check drill holes for chipping and centering. Count beads against the tag. Check the ends for any filler beads. Ask the exact stone name and where it was cut.
We count about 95 to 100 4 mm beads on a 15 inch gemstone strand when beads are touching. Use inches times 25.4, then divide by the bead length along the hole. Deduct about 1.5 inches for clasp and findings when planning a finished piece.
Plain water is fine for moonstone beads, but pools and ultrasonic cleaners are not. Moonstone is Mohs 6 to 6.5 with cleavage, so internal layers can split from shocks or heat change. To clean: rinse with lukewarm water, use a tiny drop of mild soap and a soft brush or cloth, then rinse, pat dry and air dry flat.
Use Mohs 7 as the everyday-bracelet line because household dust contains quartz around 7. For daily wear, we recommend sapphire, black spinel, red Mozambique garnet, and amethyst beads. Black onyx sits on the line and needs a gentle finish. Labradorite, lapis, pyrite, turquoise, Ethiopian opal, pearls, and kyanite are better as careful or occasional bracelets.
Use this rule: materials at per-bead cost plus your labor rate times hours, times two for wholesale, times two again for retail. Get per-bead cost by counting the beads on the strand and dividing the strand price by that count. If the strand is 13 inches, the method is the same: price divided by bead count equals per-bead cost.
Ethiopian Welo opal, found in 2008 in Ethiopia's Wollo province, is abundant and cut in high volume, so bead strands with real play-of-color usually cost far less than Australian material. White body opal looks opaque to milky; crystal body is transparent. Judge fire by flashes of green, orange and blue from several angles across multiple beads.
Set a budget. List the stones and sizes you need. Bring cash and a card. Walk the whole floor before buying. Ask every seller two questions: what is it, and where was it cut. Then note prices and booth numbers, compare, and circle back. Use standard 13 to 16 inch strand lengths and given bead counts to confirm you have enough for each project.
Umba sapphire is natural corundum from Tanzania's Umba River valley, known for yielding pinks, oranges, greens and purples from one deposit. Multi sapphire beads are real sapphire, the same mineral as blue sapphire. All colors except red are sapphire, with Mohs 9 hardness. That's why a single strand can show a full, natural color mix.
Strand price is set by five things, in order: the stone species, the color grade, the bead size, the cut quality, and the strand length. In US retail, amethyst and labradorite rondelles sit in entry to mid bands. Ethiopian Welo opal small smooths run mid to upper mid. Fine sapphire, especially hand‑faceted briolettes, sits high.
Yes, brief contact with water is fine, and you can wear labradorite daily. It's Mohs 6-6.5, but perfect cleavage means knocks can crack it, and perfume or pool chlorine can dull the surface. Rinse off splashes, pat dry, and let strands air-dry before storing. Clean with warm soapy water only; skip ultrasonic and steam.
Use quick checks: temperature (stone stays cool longer), a loupe for round gas bubbles or a mold seam at the drill hole, and natural bead-to-bead variation in color and inclusions. Glass warms fast, shows bubbles, and looks identical. Plastic feels light. Price matters too: a way-below-market strand for the stated stone and size is a red flag.
Plan about 66-70 of 6 mm beads or about 50-52 of 8 mm beads for an 18 inch necklace. The clasp and findings take about 1.5 inches. One 15 to 16 inch strand is usually enough for either size. String beads for the remaining length, then attach your clasp.
Use beads needed = beads per inch × (finished length − 1.5 in clasp). For 18 in, plan about 104 of 4 mm, 70 of 6 mm, 52 of 8 mm. IGS lists for 24 in fully beaded 2 mm 300, 3 mm 200, 4 mm 150, 6 mm 99, 8 mm 75. Apply the formula for other lengths.
Half-moons give the most face for the least weight, then marquise, then pear, then oval. Sizes like 11x15 mm half-moons or 6x9 mm pears balance presence and comfort. By stone heft, zircon feels heaviest, then topaz, then tourmaline. At 3 mm per 8 inches: zircon 26 ct, topaz 20 ct, tourmaline 17 ct.
Bring a 10x triplet loupe, a metric digital caliper that reads to hundredths of a millimeter, and short pieces of the exact stringing materials you use: your thinnest and your standard beading wire or cord, a fine needle pre-threaded with your usual thread, and a couple of your regular headpins or eye pins. Use them to check drill quality, bead size and facet finish in under two minutes.
Pick sky blue topaz for the brightest pale blue and maximum sparkle, ideally in 3 to 4 mm faceted rondelles. For the lightest feel with a soft glow, choose blue chalcedony in small smooth rondelles or heishi. Aquamarine splits the difference for a natural March-birthstone look; 4 mm faceted rondelles read clean and refined.
Test strands under neutral daylight and a white card. Rotate each drilled bead around its hole and face to find the view that reads richest blue violet, then string so that face points outward. For rondelles, align the same face on every bead. For pears and marquise, prefer top-drilled styles and set the broad face forward before you crimp or knot.
Multi tourmaline beads are one mineral strung in many colors. Tourmaline occurs in more colors and color combinations than any other mineral group, so a single strand can run pink, green, blue, olive and brown. Watermelon tourmaline is the bicolor form, a pink core with a green rim. Faceted strands usually run 2 to 4mm because clean rough comes small.
Use STONE-SHAPE-SIZE-HOLE-LENGTH/COUNT-LOT-SKU in that order, all caps with hyphens. Print on standard address or larger shipping labels in a readable font. Place the barcode at the right edge or bottom. We include examples for strands and loose pairs, plus a checklist and a size-range conversion.
Plan on two bracelets per 15 to 16 inch strand at 4, 6, 8 or 10 mm. For 10 students, buy about 5 strands; for 20, buy 10; for 30, buy 15. That includes an 8 to 10 percent waste allowance. Add a spare strand buffer so no one has to compromise color or layout.
Restring when the cord shows wear and before failure. Set a calendar: check bracelets each month and necklaces each season. Softer stones like opal and heavy, large beads need earlier refresh. Daily wear needs quicker cycles than occasional wear. Switch materials or add knots if slack appears, then restring at the first fray, squeak or gap.
Divide the ring inner circumference by bead outside diameter to get count. For US sizes, approximate counts: size 5 about 25 of 2 mm, 16 of 3 mm, or 12 of 4 mm; size 7 about 27, 18, or 14; size 9 about 29, 20, or 15; size 10 about 29, 20, or 16. See the full table.
Diamond-cut beads use a brilliant-style layout with larger, steeper facets for high flash, while micro-faceted beads pack many tiny, shallower facets for a fine shimmer. Facet designs show micro around 65 facets and brilliant styles about 58 to 69. At 2 mm micro you get silky sparkle and smooth feel; at 3 to 4 mm diamond-cut you get punchier flashes and a crisper hand. Use micro for drape, diamond-cut for pop.
Pick 6 mm rondelles or 4 to 5 mm heishi for bracelets, 4 to 6 mm for delicate necklaces, 8 to 10 mm rounds for statements, and 7x13 to 9x15 mm drops or 6 mm beads for earrings. From one 16 inch strand: 4 or 6 mm makes two 7.5 inch bracelets or one 16 inch choker; 8 mm makes one choker or two bracelets; 10 mm makes two bracelets.
Judge color in daylight first, aiming for an even medium green across the strand. Then scan for surface-reaching lines at the holes and along edges, and feel for snags. Favor thicker, smooth shapes to resist damage. Smooth hearts or pears work well, and fuller ovals do too. Pick substantial rondelles over thin, sharp-edged micro-faceted cuts.
Rectangles lay flattest, then pears, with arrowheads needing the most control. For face-up strands, keep a slight gap: a single knot between beads adds about 1 mm and usually stops flipping for rectangles and most pears. For larger arrows or tall pears, place a knot on both sides of each drop to increase separation.
Pool and hot tub water are a no for opal, turquoise and lapis; quartz bracelets handle short swims. In the ocean, keep any gemstone dip brief. Rinse right away in fresh lukewarm water, swish gently, pat dry and air dry flat before storage. Hot tubs combine heat and chemicals, so remove all gemstone bracelets.
Stronger blue flash shows most consistently on beads 4 mm and larger and on flat or broad-faced shapes like coins, cushions, rectangles, pears, and pyramids. Test under a warm indoor lamp and in daylight. Tilt the strand slightly and rotate; note which beads hold flash under both sources.
Yes. Ethiopian Welo opal is hydrophane, so beads absorb water and may look clear or yellowish while wet, then return as they dry over days. Keep strands dry on the body, avoid lotions and perfume, and store at room humidity. Do not soak beads in water or oil.
Use ultrasonic on quartz family beads like crystal, smoky and amethyst (amethyst is usually safe) and on sapphire, if the strand is sound. Never ultrasonic tanzanite, emerald, Ethiopian Welo opal, turquoise, lapis or ruby. Avoid steam on bead strands altogether. If you must ultrasonic, keep the solution cool, power low, cycles very short, and suspend the strand in a basket.
Carats per strand depend on bead size and stone density for the chosen strand length. Use our stone-by-stone strand weights, or estimate with bead counts per inch and IGS formulas. 3 mm sapphire about 20 ct per 8 inches, tourmaline about 17 ct per 8 inches, Ethiopian opal about 20 ct per 8 inches at 4 mm, turquoise about 45 ct per 16 inches at 4 mm.
Count your A items weekly, B items monthly, and C items quarterly. Assign A to any SKU selling 5 or more units a week, B to 2 to 4, and C to 1 or fewer. Accept a variance of one strand or 2 percent per SKU, whichever is larger. Recount the same SKU when variance passes 3 percent.
Subtract 1.5 in for a clasp, then multiply the beaded run by beads per inch. For a 7.5 in clasped bracelet that is 6 in of beads: 4 mm about 38, 6 mm about 25, 8 mm about 19. For elastic, use the full length. Use 3 mm 8.3/in, 4 mm 6.25 to 6.3, 6 mm 4.2, 8 mm 3.13 to 3.2 to scale 6.5 and 8 in.
Handle on a soft mat, keep strands tied until the moment you string, and stage beads on low-tack tape or in lidded trays so facets never rub. Add tiny spacer beads or knots to separate rondelles, and use gentle wraps, caps, and wire guards for pears. Store coiled with tissue between layers. Clean with warm soapy water and a soft brush only.
State stone, shape, size range, hole size, strand length, bead count, and any color or optical effects. Add clear, color-true photos with scale and hole macros, plus a short QC notes block. For labradorite, moonstone, and opal, show the flash or sheen from multiple angles and note care. Example listings below you can copy.
Peach moonstone is orthoclase feldspar whose soft apricot body color comes from trace iron and whose floating sheen is adularescence. To choose strands, we look for even color from bead to bead and a sheen that moves as we tilt the strand. Flat, lifeless faces mean the glow is weak.
Use a soft-bristled brush, lukewarm water and one drop of mild dish soap. Brush lightly, rinse with a damp cloth rather than running water, then lay the piece flat on a towel until it is fully dry. Skip soaking on opal, pearl, turquoise and lapis, and keep moonstone and opal out of an ultrasonic cleaner entirely.
Do quick, non-destructive checks: rub with a dry cloth for powdering, inspect drill holes for crumble, and lightly click two beads to hear a glassy ping. For bracelets, pick thicker heishi or tall rondelles about 5 mm and up, plus rounded ovals or nuggets with sturdy walls. Skip thin flats and tiny discs on the wrist, and save delicate cuts for earrings or pendants.
Bracelets work best in 6 mm rondelles for a classic fit, 4 mm for delicate stacks, 8 mm for bolder styles. Necklaces use 6 or 8 mm for chokers and 4 to 6 mm for longer strands. Earrings shine in pears or hearts. A 16 inch strand of 6 mm has about 65 to 70 beads, enough for two bracelets or one 16 inch choker with a few beads to spare.
Use a digital caliper to spot check diameter on heishi and both diameter and height on rondelles. Measure beads spaced from end to end, note the smallest and largest readings, and compare against the strand's stated size. Accept strands that stay inside the labeled range and read visually even; reject obvious outliers, off-center drilling, or a wobbly silhouette.
Most US importers, us included, sell gemstone beads by the strand to the trade. Get your paperwork first: a state resale certificate lets you buy without paying sales tax, and wholesale rooms at gem shows ask to see one. Then buy deep on a few stones instead of one strand of everything, and confirm stone, shape, size and cut on every listing before you pay.
Check color, matrix, hardness and care. Chrysocolla runs robin's-egg to sky blue-green with a waxy to glassy feel; shattuckite shows deeper royal blue in fibrous patches. Turquoise is more even blue to green with web-like matrix and a matte, opaque look. At drill holes, chrysocolla can look slightly translucent, shattuckite shows fibrous streaks, turquoise looks opaque. Pick turquoise for bracelets, either for necklaces.
Treat keystone, a 2x markup, as your floor rather than your target on small faceted goods. Gross margin at keystone is 50 percent before overhead. Push well above that multiplier on 2 to 4 mm sapphire and tourmaline, where bead counts and bench time run highest, and sit nearer keystone on larger labradorite pears and nuggets.
Head to Jaipur-cut gemstone strand importers and faceted gemstone strand dealers. They most often carry pyramids, half-moons, trilliants and arrowheads. Expect trilliants in the 6 to 10 mm bracket, arrowheads around 12 to 25 mm, pyramids commonly near 9x15 mm and half-moons around 11x15 mm. Cab-only and rough booths rarely stock drilled fancy shapes.
Treat the strand's cost as cost per usable bead. Cull any beads you would not sell, then divide strand cost by the usable bead count. Assign each earring pair the cost of two beads, and reduce the strand's remaining cost by that amount. Price finished items by multiplying material cost two to three times, then add labor at your hourly rate.
Plan about 6 to 8 weeks from order to delivery on Jaipur-cut rondelles, and hold safety stock equal to roughly half your lead-time demand. Multiply your average strands sold per week by the lead time in weeks, add the safety stock, and reorder when your shelf count hits that number. Tourmaline needs the wider buffer of the two.
From a 16 inch strand, 3 mm beads make about 3 clasped bracelets at 6.5 inches or 2 at 7 to 7.5 inches. With 4 mm, plan on 2, sometimes 3 at 6.5 inches if your strand runs high on bead count. Stretch builds generally yield 2. For flat, smooth wear, choose heishi or smooth rondelles. Keep sets uniform with one clasp style or identical elastic and knots.
Pick 3 mm faceted rondelles for the brightest chrome green. 4 mm can work if the beads are shallow and well cut; 5 mm risks going near black. Choose shallow profiles like small rondelles or thin pears to keep color rich. In 3 to 5 mm, avoid tall chunky cuts, uneven drilling, and strands that look yellowish like peridot or show bubbles like glass.
Pick strands with bright lemon and orange separated by clean black lines, with bands that continue through each bead. Medium to wide band density reads bold at arm's length. Marquise and pear shapes show banding best. For pendants, choose 25 to 40 mm pieces; for bracelets, use 6 to 8 mm beads or small flats like 9x15 mm pyramids.
Milky aquamarine is the same beryl as gem aquamarine, but fine internal inclusions make it translucent instead of crystal clear. Colors run from pale blue to green-blue. On a strand, look for even color without gray, consistent translucency from bead to bead, clean drilling, and a balanced layout that graduates smoothly.
Expect flat tab-style rectangles and half-moons with holes set near the flat edge. Measure the drill-height setback from that edge. Pick a jump ring whose inner diameter exceeds that setback. Choose a pinch bail with a slim post that fits the hole and shoulders that clear the edge. Oval rings pass tight setbacks cleanly.
Measure the drill height, the center of the hole to the nearest edge. Pick a jump ring whose inner diameter is about twice that distance so it swings freely. For example, a .5 mm drill height needs roughly a 1 mm ID. Choose the thickest wire that passes the hole smoothly.
Count along the drilled axis. On a 16 inch strand, 6 mm along the drill yields about 61 to 66 beads, 8 mm about 46 to 50, 10 mm about 40 and 12 mm about 33. Top drilled pears count by width; center drilled pears, ovals and most rectangles count by length. Half strands hold roughly half of the 16 inch totals.
For bracelets, choose rounded rondelles or ovals at 6 mm and larger, and avoid 3 to 4 mm and any pointed shapes. For necklaces, rondelles, ovals, pears, or teardrops at 4 mm and up wear more safely; avoid under 3 mm. Heishi discs are risky on wrists due to edge wear, so keep them for necklaces. String with a gentle lay.
At 3 to 4 mm, amethyst reads the most purple on bracelets and earrings. Iolite can shift slate or pale from some angles, and tanzanite tends to swing bluer at this size. To hold color, choose taller faceted rondelles or small ovals. Very flat heishi look lighter because there's less depth for the color to build.
Under most indoor light, rainbow moonstone shows more color. Its blue sheen comes alive under warm LED and stays readable down to 3 to 4 mm faceted rondelles. Gray-body Australian opal reads better under daylight LED, and it needs a broad flat face, so heishi discs and smooth ovals beat small rondelles. Tilt both strands before you buy.
Here's the go-to map: 3 Pearl, 4 Blue topaz (or aquamarine), 5 Sapphire, 6 Amethyst, 7 Onyx, 8 Tourmaline, 9 Lapis, 10 Diamond accents, 11 Turquoise, 12 Jade or alexandrite, 13 Citrine, 14 Opal, 15 Ruby, 20 Emerald, 25 Silver-themed, 30 Pearl. For bracelets use 4 to 8 mm rondelles or rounds; for earrings pick pears or hearts; for necklaces use 3 to 6 mm strands.
Store Ethiopian opal bead strands at a moderate, stable relative humidity and avoid rapid swings. Use vented cases with a humidity indicator card. In dry rooms, place a small open glass of water near the case. In humid rooms, use a tiny desiccant sachet and add ventilation. Do not immerse hydrophane opal, and if strands get wet, let them dry slowly.
Use micro-rondelle reference weights, then do one quick calc. At 3 mm, tourmaline averages about 17 ct per 8 inches and sapphire about 20 ct per 8 inches. A 13 to 16 inch strand scales from those 8 inch baselines. Convert $/g to $/ct by dividing by 5, then multiply by carats per strand.
Choose hard stones in tiny sizes. Sapphire and ruby in 2 to 3 mm rondelles are top tier. Black spinel in 2 to 3 mm is a strong daily black. Quartz family beads in 3 to 4 mm work well. Avoid wafer-thin heishi and very soft stones. String on fine 49-strand beading cable or fine elastic that passes your holes cleanly.
Quartz beads like amethyst, crystal quartz and smoky quartz handle sunscreen oils, alcohol perfume mists and mild soaps well. Keep porous or hydrated stones such as Ethiopian opal, turquoise and lapis away from oils, alcohols and household cleaners. Quick cleanup: lukewarm rinse, a drop of mild dish soap, soft brush, blot and air dry. For opal or turquoise, wipe with a damp cloth and dry.
The black fern-like markings are manganese and iron dendrites. Dendritic opal is common opal with a milky white body and no fire, while dendritic agate is glassier, more translucent chalcedony. For bold patterns, pick strands with crisp black branches on a clean white ground and motifs that span the face of each larger bead.
Use two quick bench tests. Backlight a single bead with a phone flashlight and sort strands into High, Medium or Low glow by how much light blooms through the body. Then place one bead over printed text; if letters stay readable through the center, it's higher translucency. Choose smooth ovals, pears and teardrops to maximize that inner glow.
Check three things: drill height, thickness and symmetry. The hole should sit cleanly across the lobes with solid stone above it. Thickness should suit wear, thinner for bracelets and fuller for pendants. Symmetry should show matched lobes, an even cleft and a centered point so hearts hang straight and feel balanced.
Pick turquoise 4 mm rondelles or heishi for bracelets. Keep tanzanite and natural zircon for necklaces and earrings in 3 to 4 mm rondelles or small drops. A 16 inch strand gives about 95 to 100 beads at 4 mm and 65 to 70 at 6 mm, enough for one choker or two bracelets. At 3 mm, expect about 133 beads per 16 inch strand.
Plan minimal cull for hard stones in rounder shapes, and higher cull for brittle stones and top-drilled points. From a 16 inch finished necklace you use about 61 of 6 mm or 46 of 8 mm beads. A 15 to 16 inch strand of 6 mm rondelles carries about 65 to 70 beads, 8 mm about 48 to 52.
Pick 6 mm faceted rondelles for most bracelets and everyday necklaces, 8 mm for bolder necklaces and stretch stacks, and small pear briolettes or short rondelle stacks for earrings. A 16 inch 6 mm strand has about 65 to 70 beads, enough for two bracelets or one 16 inch choker, and sometimes an 18 inch. A 16 inch 8 mm strand makes two bracelets or one choker.
Plan by bead height on the string. From 16 inch strands you get about 200 beads at 2 mm, 133 at 3 mm, 100 at 4 mm, 80 at 5 mm and 66 at 6 mm. Knotting adds about 1 mm per bead. Use the largest cord that can be doubled at the guru, a fine collapsible-eye needle, and a guru that accepts a doubled cord.
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