Knowledge Base
Yak Bone & Horn
Ethics and Sourcing, First Our bone and horn beads are carved from the domesticated yak (牦牛, mao niu; Tibetan གཡག་, g.yag), the shaggy, sure-footed bovid that has carried Tibetan plateau...
Yak Bone & Horn
Ethics and Sourcing, First Our bone and horn beads are carved from the domesticated yak (牦牛, mao niu; Tibetan གཡག་, g.yag), the shaggy, sure-footed bovid that has carried Tibetan plateau...
Tibetan vs. Modern
The word "Dzi" covers beads that sell for two dollars and beads that sell for two hundred thousand. This page is our attempt at a map of what came out...
Tibetan vs. Modern
The word "Dzi" covers beads that sell for two dollars and beads that sell for two hundred thousand. This page is our attempt at a map of what came out...
Seed & Nut Beads
Seeds were always the everyperson's mala: inexpensive, replaceable, sincere. Monks' beads of seed are as traditional as emperors' beads of jade, and the tradition esteems both. This page covers the...
Seed & Nut Beads
Seeds were always the everyperson's mala: inexpensive, replaceable, sincere. Monks' beads of seed are as traditional as emperors' beads of jade, and the tradition esteems both. This page covers the...
Porcelain & Clay
Not every bead in the Chinese and Himalayan traditions is stone, seed, or bone: some are fired earth. This page gathers the ceramic family - China's two great glaze traditions...
Porcelain & Clay
Not every bead in the Chinese and Himalayan traditions is stone, seed, or bone: some are fired earth. This page gathers the ceramic family - China's two great glaze traditions...
Other Woods
The woods with their own pages in this catalog - sandalwood, agar wood, golden silk, liudaomu - earned them through cultural weight. These four didn't need that much room, but...
Other Woods
The woods with their own pages in this catalog - sandalwood, agar wood, golden silk, liudaomu - earned them through cultural weight. These four didn't need that much room, but...
Other Precious & Semi-Precious Stones
The stones in this catalog with the deepest histories - turquoise, cinnabar, jade, lapis - have their own pages. These two don't need one each, but both deserve an honest...
Other Precious & Semi-Precious Stones
The stones in this catalog with the deepest histories - turquoise, cinnabar, jade, lapis - have their own pages. These two don't need one each, but both deserve an honest...