Animal-Derived Materials
- Yak bone and horn: byproducts of the domesticated yak's food economy on the Tibetan plateau. The animals are raised for milk, butter, meat, wool, and labor, never for beads. Abundant livestock, no wild or endangered species anywhere in the chain. (see Yak Bone & Horn.)
- Pearls: cultured freshwater pearls. The inlay work on our Tibetan-style pieces is hand-set by artisans (see Pearl).
Wood
Sandalwood from regulated plantation trade (see Sandalwood). Agar wood through suppliers we query hard about origin and treatment (see How Agar Wood Is Made). And our golden silk nanmu is the flagship of our sourcing: we buy the wood and commission the pieces ourselves in Luoyang, from legal channels only. Wild Phoebe zhennan harvest is banned in China, and legal material means recovered stock, salvage, or plantation sources (see Golden Silk Wood).
Stone, Resin, and Ceramic
Turquoise, jade, Dzi, and amber are bought with the same rule everywhere in this catalog: we pay for honesty and price for reality. Composites and stabilized materials are labeled as what they are (see Turquoise, Cinnabar). Modern Dzi is sold as modern (see Tibetan vs. Modern). Treated jadeite is disclosed or declined.
The Promise Underneath All of It
Ask us where anything came from, and we'll answer with specifics or admit we don't have them, and if we can't get specifics, that piece doesn't get a story it hasn't earned.
Related: Claims We Don't Make · Cinnabar Safety · Authenticity Guides · Yak Bone & Horn