About Us

We sell one thing, and we describe it plainly: beads of ground aromatic wood, rolled by hand, one at a time.

A string of incense beads is not a perfume and not a diffuser. There is no alcohol in it and nothing sprayed onto it. The aromatics are ground into the body of the bead, so the scent surfaces with the warmth of skin and stays close to the person wearing it. Someone across the room will not smell it. That is the point.

The method is called 合香 — blended incense. Botanicals are selected whole, ground to powder, sieved, weighed to a formula, worked into a paste, and rolled bead by bead. Nothing is moulded and nothing is coated. It is slow, and it is the reason no two beads on a strand carry exactly the same grain.

What we put in writing

The formula is on the page

Agarwood, sandalwood, and whatever else is in the blend — named, in order, before you buy. If an ingredient is in a piece, you can read it without asking us.

We don't tell you what it will do for you

Incense beads are jewellery. They are not medicine, they are not a treatment, and we will not write copy that implies otherwise — however well that copy would sell.

Delivery windows are stated up front

Every piece is made and shipped from the workshop. The delivery window and the shipping cost are on the product page and in our shipping policy before you check out, not in an email afterwards.

How they're made

Six steps, all by hand — the same sequence behind every blend in the shop.

  1. Whole botanicals laid out in a compartmented wooden tray, picked over by hand

    Selection

    Whole botanicals laid out and picked over by hand.

  2. Botanicals ground down in a stone mortar and pestle

    Grinding

    Worked down to a fine powder in a stone mortar.

  3. Powder sifted through a copper sieve into a carved wooden bowl

    Sieving

    Sifted through copper until the grain is even throughout.

  4. Materials weighed out on a brass balance scale

    Proportioning

    Each material weighed out to the blend's formula.

  5. Dark aromatic paste worked by hand in a wooden basin

    Blending

    Powder and water worked into a paste by hand.

  6. A single bead rolled and shaped between two fingers

    Forming

    Every bead rolled and shaped one at a time.

The materials

Every piece draws on the same shortlist of woods, resins, botanicals and stone. Most carry their full blend on the product page.

Agarwood

Agarwood

Resin-saturated heartwood from the Aquilaria tree. Dense, dark and slow to form.

Amomum Villosum

Ribbed brown fruits of the Amomum shrub, dried whole. Warm and resinous, with a peppery edge.

Angelica Dahurica

A paler, starchier root than its sinensis cousin, sliced into thin white rounds.

Angelica Sinensis

Root sliced across the grain and dried. Pale, fibrous, with a sweet celery-like edge.

Borneol

Crystalline resin from the Dryobalanops camphor tree. Clear and sharp against the heavier woods.

Fritillaria Bulb

Small pale bulbs of the Himalayan Fritillaria, dried whole. Cool and faintly sweet against the woods.

Cassia Twig

Young twigs of the cassia tree, cut and dried whole. Woody, warm and faintly sweet.

Frankincense

Sun-hardened resin tapped from the Boswellia tree. Amber tears that turn glassy with age.

Hainan Qinan

The resin-saturated grade of agarwood from Hainan, cut from the softest oil pockets. Green-black and dense.

Jasmine

Buds picked at dusk, when they are still closed, and dried overnight.

Lavender

Buds harvested at first bloom and dried slowly. The one botanical among the woods and resins.

Mugwort

Silver-backed leaves cut in early summer. Dry, herbal and slightly bitter.