Button Pearls

Button Pearls are very uniformly shaped pearls that are typically drilled through the short center dimension of the pearl. The sides of the pearl tend to be a bit flatter than a potato pearl. These pearls are sometimes also called "corn pearls", "side-drilled pearls" or "rondelle pearls".

A note on sizes: Button Pearls tend to be very uniform in diameter (the non-drilled dimension of the pearl), so we usually give that size as a single number (e.g. 5.5mm) or a small range (5.2-5.5mm). On this page, pearl styles are arranged starting with smaller pearls and ranging up to the largest pearls at the bottom of the page. For very small Button Pearls (diameters of less than 4mm), please see the Small Freshwater Pearls page.

Multiple Strand Discount
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Featured Pearls

Button Pearl, Jade Green, 5mm

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$11.50 per strand
$9.78 each at 10 strands or more
$8.05 each at 50 strands or more

Button Pearl, Natural Color, 5.5-6mm

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$10.40 per strand
$8.84 each at 10 strands or more
$7.28 each at 50 strands or more

Button, White, 6mm

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$12.40 per strand
$10.54 each at 10 strands or more
$8.68 each at 50 strands or more

How Many Button Pearls on a Strand?

Pearls are typically strung on temporary strands measuring 16 inches in length. In metric measurements, this is equivalent to about 400mm. The table below is based on dividing the strand length by the average length on the drilled dimension of the button pearl. This table gives you an approximate number of pearls you may expect to see on a typical strand - actual pearl counts can vary from this estimate.

Drilled Dimension
(average) 		How many Pearls
on a Strand
3mm133
3.5mm114
4mm100
4.5mm89
5mm80
5.5mm73

Pearl buying tips:

Freshwater Pearls are sold by the strand. Strands are usually 16" long (40 cm), but sometimes can be as short as 15.5". They are temporarily strung on thread or mono filament cord.

We try to stock pearl styles that can be restocked, or where very similar pearls are readily available. Since pearls are a "natural product", some styles and colors will be available only in limited amounts and may not be available again. It is best to purchase all the strands that you need for a particular project all at the same time.

Please be aware that you usually get what you pay for with Freshwater Pearls! In other words, the higher the price, the nicer the pearls. Higher priced pearls will be more consistent in color and shape and will have better luster. Pearl prices also tend to be higher for very small pearls (more labor to prepare the strands) or very large pearls (more rare and they take longer to culture).

The fresh water pearls we sell are cultured pearls; for more information about the pearl culturing process please see the All About Pearls page. For more tips and information about selecting and buying Freshwater Pearls, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions about Freshwater Pearls.