Black Gold

Black beads veined with rust brown, 14mm, ground and rolled by hand. The marbling is the blend itself showing through — no two beads carry the same grain.

The formula

Agarwood · Sandalwood · Musk · Ambergris

These four have a name of their own in Chinese: chen, tan, long, she — agarwood, sandalwood, ambergris, musk. They appear together in incense manuals and in poetry for the better part of a thousand years, always in that order, as the four against which a serious blend was measured.

Where the name comes from

Black gold, the great four-part blend.

The second half of the name is not a poetic flourish. It is what a formula built on that quartet was called — the four combined, as opposed to a blend leaning on one or two. Naming a recipe after its four corners was a way of saying there was nothing cheap hiding in it.

Black gold is the colour it comes out: black through the body, with the rust-gold grain running across the surface.

The bracelet

20cm · 14mm beads · 15.8g

Made by the blended-incense method. Botanicals are selected, hand-ground to powder, sieved, weighed, bound, and rolled into beads one at a time.

Wear it

Cold weather. Dark coats.

About the scent

This is not a perfume.

No alcohol, no spray, no projection. The oils live in the beads and wake with the warmth of your skin. Someone across the room will not smell it — that is the point. It is a scent for the person wearing it.

It is strongest in the first weeks and softens over the months that follow. Keep it dry; moisture is the one thing that shortens its life. If the scent quietens, warm the beads between your palms for a moment.

Shipping

Made and shipped from our workshop. Arrives in 7–15 days.
Free shipping on every order, no minimum.