Nine Eye Motif Dzi, 39.7×13.8mm, Pitch-Black & Brown Agate (At-070626-9E2)

We never retouch our photos. What you see is exactly what you will receive.

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At 39.7 millimetres, this is the most compact of the nine-eye beads in this series — and the composition makes that count. Nine eyes in two rows, stepped connecting lines routing between them in angular turns, the pitch-black ground pressing hard against the cream etching from every angle. There is no room for anything to be approximate on a bead this short. Every element is tight, close, and consequential.

This bead shares its crafting vocabulary with At-070626-9EBS and At-061926-9E6BS — the same Tibetan hand-etching technique, the same stepped line network, the same pitch-black ground with warm brown end caps, the same age range of 200–300 years. What differs here is scale and surface character. The shorter form means the nine eyes distribute across the body differently — the upper and lower rows are more compressed, the connecting lines spanning less ground between positions, the whole motif reading as more concentrated on each face. Rotate the bead and the composition shifts as it does on any bead of this type — but on this one, the shift feels more abrupt, the transitions sharper.

The end caps of this bead are warm medium brown — clearly visible in the angled shots and at both drill ends. The interior of the drill channels shows the same warm reddish-brown tone. The transition from end cap to pitch-black central body is well-defined: three distinct zones from tip to tip, each clear in the white-background photographs.

Under macro photography, fine reddish-brown cinnabar micro-dots (硃砂, zhūshā, mercuric sulfide) are present in the cream zones — a light, sparse scatter that confirms the presence of genuine bloodspot inclusions. These are not prominent enough to be the primary selling point of this bead, but they are real, documented, and a welcome characteristic in any piece of this age.

Two condition details are disclosed: a fine hairline is visible in Image 1 at the lower-left body area between the black ground and the cream zone. Surface micro-crazing is visible in the black ground zone under macro in Image 6 — age-consistent surface texture, not structural damage. Both are documented here in full.

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The Nine Eye Motif (九眼天珠, jiǔ yǎn tiānzhū)

The nine-eye dzi is universally recognised across Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, China, Taiwan, Mongolia, and Southeast Asia as the King of All Dzi Motifs — the single most auspicious configuration in the entire tradition. Its nine eyes are associated with nine simultaneous channels of blessing: power, authority, reputation, compassion, wisdom, health, wealth, virtue, and the removal of obstacles. A nine-eye bead does not address one area of life — it opens every channel at once, which is why the nine-eye has been the preferred talisman of merchants, leaders, and serious collectors across the Himalayan world for centuries.

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Motif — Nine Eye (九眼天珠, jiǔ yǎn tiānzhū); nine concentric-ring eyes in staggered upper-lower rows across two lateral faces; connected by stepped right-angled and S-curve cream line network
Length — 39.7mm
Diameter — 13.8mm
Form — Fusiform barrel
Material — Agate; pitch-black central body confirmed from white-background photography; warm medium brown end caps at both drill ends; cream-white motif lines with light age-consistent mineral toning
Age Estimate — 200–300 years
Condition — Fine hairline visible at lower-left body, Image 1, between black ground and cream zone. Surface micro-crazing in black ground zone visible under macro, Image 6 — age-consistent surface texture, not structural damage. Both disclosed in full
Bloodspots — Tier 2. Macro photography confirms fine reddish-brown cinnabar (硃砂, zhūshā, mercuric sulfide) micro-dots in cream zones. Distribution: cream-zone focused scattered, light density. Present and genuine; not the primary feature of this bead
Product ID — At-070626-9E2
Collection — Antique Dzi Beads

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You may also like:

Nine Eye Dzi with Cinnabar Bloodspots, 42.2×13.2mm — At-070626-9EBS — same crafting tradition, same age; Tier 3 bloodspots; compare scale directly

Nine Eye Dzi with Bloodspots, 41.3×14.5mm — At-061926-9E6BS — same tradition; compound dual-zone bloodspots

Nine Eye Dzi with Cinnabar Bloodspots — At-060326-9E5 — same tradition

Antique Nine Eye Dzi, 77.0mm — At-062926-9EBS — longest straight-barrel in the collection

Antique Dzi Collection | Bloodspot Dzi Collection

Further reading:

Dzi Bead Blog — Ancient Dzi Shop

Buddhism Blog — Ancient Dzi Shop