We're agate obsessed right now at Dakota Stones, and with good reason. Care to see why?
Let's start with a little game of "I Spy".
Check out these Botswana Agate rounds and nuggets - can you find the gray, rose, pink, mauve, tan, beige, cream, violet, khaki and fatigue green?
ds Botswana Agate Tumble Nuggets
ds Botswana Agate Nuggets
Or, if warm colors are more your style, how about the orange, rust, brown, brandy, and gold in the Montana Moss Agate?
ds Montana Moss Agate Rectangles
ds Montana Moss Agate Nuggets
Skewing even more into trusty, rusty brown, are you seeing the pearly cream, soft peach, deep brown, and purple-red in Brown Sardonyx?
ds Brown Sardonyx
ds Green Line Agate Rounds
If you thought this was fun in photos imagine these little pieces of heaven in your hands.
Pure gorgeousness aside, agates are incredibly practical for design. Here are my personal reasons:
1) Appeal - Customers love agate. They request it. They seek it out. They oogle it even over sparklies. I've found this true of customers across age spectrums and regardless of dollar power. My personal theory is that agates are some of the first rocks we learn to hunt and identify, and they maintain a magical connection to youthful days of rock picking on beaches, trails, and roads.
2) Color - You get an incredible variety of color within a single strand. For one-of-a-kind designs, it gives me more purchasing bang for my buck. (Also, pulling out the dominant color in particular stones helps me understand colors that naturally "work" together, so it's a great color cheat.)
3) Pattern - Need a focal with some interest? Use an agate. Earrings? Agate. A glorious blend of colors through a necklace? The blend of colors in each stone make this a no-brainer.
4) MORE COLOR - I like sorting each bead by color and subtle color variations and then graduating the colors subtly. This gives me an excuse to examine each bead closely, and put them in many different piles. I find this soothing to the max.
5) Price Point - Not only do customers love them, they're also easier on the wallet than many stone types. For me that means I can devote more time to a design and keep my margin up without making something that is going to drain my profit.
6) Metaphysical - If you're into this, agates have a fantastic world of properties common to agates generally, as well as properties specific to a type. For example, Botswana Agate is said to help with big picture thinking and problem solving, while Sardonyx is said to promote optimism and happiness.
Erin, Dakota Stones
FYI - as of this writing, we just got a bunch of new shapes and sizes in stock in both Botswana Agate and Montana Moss Agate. They're on our site, but so new they aren't even in the showroom yet.
