Above: The round dig or weathering on this side reveals the original colour

of the stone (greyish white). This was the colour of the agate/chalcedony
before it was treated to turn it to a more desirable black.

Ancient decorated agate bead
w/ 'railtrack' and mountain peak motif.
21 mm x 12.5 mm

A 'new' dZi bead from China (less than 5 years old) that has been purposely broken in half and polished smooth. It is clearly an attempt to look like an ancient damaged bead. What is interesting about this bead is that the decorated lines have also been framed and inlaid with silver or a silver coloured metal. It is quite an attractive effect, however, this was not a technique used to decorate dZi beads in ancient times.

 

A new book on 'Himalayan dZi Beads' by the Chinese author Xiaoli Zhu has just been published. It is currently only available in Chinese, however, there is a content section in English. It is packed full of beautiful images of dZi beads and there are few pages dedicated to Pumtek and Thogchags. A number of beads from our own blog have also been featured. 

ISBN 978-7-5494-1621-9

Ancient Western Asiatic Carnelian Bead

28.5 mm

Ancient Western Asiatic decorated carnelian.

18 mm

Ancient Carnelian Lion Bead

South East Asia

17 mm x 17 mm

Losar Tashi Delek! Happy Tibetan New Year! 

February 27th - Year of the Fire Rooster

A Tibetan or Bhutia woman circa 1920s.
The dZi beads on this necklace 

may well be glass imitations.

A large portion of an ancient Chong dZi
with recent 22k gold end caps.

47.5 mm x 23.5 mm

Read the latest John Vincent Bellezza article discussing 

the ancient dZi beads discovered in Spiti, India.

Ancient Green Jasper Bead

Western Asiatic

32 mm x 30 mm

Ancient Green Jasper Bead

Western Asiatic

28 mm x 21 mm

Ancient Green Chalcedony Bead

Western Asiatic

31 mm x 20 mm

Ancient Green Jasper Bead

Western Asiatic

32 mm x 19 mm

Large Ancient Green Jasper Bead

Western Asiatic

47 mm x 27 mm

Ancient Green Chalcedony Bead

Western Asiatic

44 mm x 22 mm

Newly created dZi beads from Taiwan and China

from 1990s production up to the present day.

Huge antique Tibetan silver bead with copper core

Collected in Tibet in the 1980s

47 mm x 38 mm

Above: Various ancient glass beads with eyes and stripes.
Designed to imitate naturally banded agate. 

Above: more glass beads that imitate banded agate.

Above: glass imitating banded agate.

Above: glass imitating banded agate.

Above: glass imitating banded agate.

Above: glass imitating banded agate.

Above: glass imitating banded agate

Above: glass imitating banded agate

Above: glass imitating banded agate

Above: Antique glass imitation dZi beads. Possibly of Chinese origin. 

The large nine eye (55 mm x 14 mm) is ceramic and 

is probably a mid 20th C bead from India.

Above: This four eyed glass bead is distinct in that it has yellow lines.
28 mm x 12 mm

Above: This two eyed glass bead is distinct in that it has orangey brown lines.
22 mm x 11 mm

Above: This nine eyed glass bead is distinct in that it has
additional red rings around some of the eyes. 

Archaeologists have recently discovered an ancient dZi bead in Tibet and have dated the find to the 2nd century CE. Read more