Antique Three Diamond Eye & Tiger Tooth Dzi Bead with Bloodspots, 27.5mm × 13.0mm (At-053126-3DETT)

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

The diamond eye is the older form.

Before the concentric ring, before the circular pupil-and-ring composition that defines most dzi beads in this collection, there was the diamond. Angular, four-pointed, its corners sharp rather than curved, the diamond eye is regarded as the precursor form from which the circular eye later developed. This bead carries three of them. They are etched in deep dark brown into a ground that is itself unusual in this collection: a warm terracotta-red agate, closer in tone to carnelian than to the chocolate-brown or pitch-black fields of the other antique beads. The dark diamond motifs read as figures pressed into a warm reddish field, the contrast quieter than cream-on-black and more inward in character.

Each diamond eye is a composition in itself: a dark brown outer diamond frame, a warm cream inner field, a dark brown inner diamond, three nested angular forms reading together as a pointed eye. On Face A, one diamond eye is centred and framed, flanked on each side by the tiger tooth motif, crossing diagonal stripes that form X-patterns against the warm ground. On Face B, two diamond eye forms appear, smaller and more compressed, but both fully resolved with the same nested structure.

The bloodspots on this bead are shown at macro scale in Images 4, 5 and 6. They appear as rust-orange and warm brown natural cinnabar (硃砂, zhūshā) micro-dots scattered across both the dark zones and the cream fields of the diamond eye interiors, a well-distributed bloodspot field held within the agate itself. The macro images also show fine surface pitting throughout, consistent with age. Learn more in our guide to bloodspots in dzi beads.

The end caps are the most striking physical feature of this bead. Both are a vivid terracotta-red agate, clearly visible in Images 2 and 3, with bright orange-red drill holes. Few beads in this collection have end caps of this tone. They show that the warm reddish ground of the body is the agate's natural colour throughout: body, caps, and drill channel are the same warm material.

At 27.5mm × 13.0mm this bead is compact and wide for its length, close to a rounded barrel. It sits differently in the hand from a long torpedo-shaped dzi, rounder and more immediate, the motif occupying a proportionally wider field.

The Three Diamond Eye motif carries the same triad of blessings as the Three Eye, happiness, success, and longevity (福祿壽 / fú lù shòu), in an older symbolic language. The Tiger Tooth motif adds strength and courage. This bead carries both together. Read more in The Three Eye Dzi Bead: Symbolism and Significance.

Specifications

• Motif: Three Diamond Eye (三鑽眼天珠) and Tiger Tooth; one diamond eye with tiger tooth on Face A; two diamond eyes on Face B
• Length: 27.5mm
• Diameter: 13.0mm
• Form: Wide compact barrel with vivid terracotta-red end caps
• Material: Natural agate; warm terracotta-red ground throughout; dark brown diamond motif lines
• Age estimate: Antique, about 300 years
• Condition: Excellent; no cracks; natural weathering marks and surface micro-pitting
• Bloodspots: Yes. Rust-orange and warm brown natural cinnabar micro-dots in the dark zones and diamond eye cream fields, shown at macro scale
• Product ID: At-053126-3DETT
• Collections: Antique Dzi Beads | Bloodspot Dzi

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From the blog

• Dzi Motifs and Their Interpretations
• Bloodspots in Dzi Beads

Three angular eyes. One terracotta-red stone. The oldest form of the eye motif, carrying happiness, strength, and three centuries of history.

We never retouch our photos. Every bead is photographed exactly as it is. What you see is what you receive.