Pair of New Three Stripe Tiger Agate Dzi Beads with Bloodspots, 39.7×13.8mm & 39.6×13.8mm (N-062426-3TSBS)

✦ All photographs on this page are unretouched. What you see is what you receive. ✦

These two beads carry the same motif on the same ground — and the colour of the etching on one is warm honey-gold, while on the other it is cool pale blue-grey.

Stand them side by side as in Image 1, and the difference is immediately legible. The left bead reads warm throughout: the stacked V-chevron motif lines are honey-gold to sandy-cream, the etching zones saturated with warmth. The right bead reads cool: the same chevron construction reads as pale blue-grey to icy white, a tone so distinctly different that the two beads look as if they came from different traditions — which they did not. They are the same motif, the same construction, the same agate ground. What differs is what the mineral chemistry of each individual stone brought to the etching field: in one bead, cinnabar warmth has saturated the cream zones and turned them golden; in the other, a different mineral expression in the agate has produced a cool, almost silvery read. Both are natural, unretouched, and entirely the stone's own work.

The motif itself is the Three Stripe Tiger — three rows of stacked inverted V-chevrons running around the full circumference of each bead, creating a repeating mountain-peak or zigzag pattern that wraps the body from top band to bottom band. The V-elements open downward and are stacked upper-middle-lower across each face, the rows dense enough that the motif covers the majority of each bead's surface. The ground between the chevron lines is a medium-dark warm brown on both beads — the difference between them is in the etching, not the ground.

The form is a tall barrel — broader at the body and gently tapered toward the top where the drill hole sits, with a rounded base that gives each bead an almost column-like proportion. At 39.7×13.8mm and 39.6×13.8mm, both beads are closely matched in dimension. The surface is high-gloss on the dark ground zones and granular-matte in the etching zones, consistent with new dzi construction.

The bloodspots are documented in the macro photograph (Image 6). Through the loupe, the etching surface reveals scattered rust-brown to warm orange cinnabar inclusions throughout the cream zones — smaller individual inclusion points distributed across the field, alongside a larger, more concentrated mass of brown mineral inclusion visible in the upper-right of the macro frame. The cinnabar (硃砂 / zhūshā, mercuric sulfide) is present as both concentrated mass and scattered individual points: a cream-zone focused distribution with a denser central cluster.

No cracks or chips observed on either bead across all six photographs. This is an independent finding.

The Three Stripe Tiger Motif

The Three Stripe Tiger motif (三條虎紋 / sān tiáo hǔ wén) belongs to the tiger tooth and stripe family — one of the most broadly auspicious groupings in the Tibetan dzi tradition. The tiger is associated with strength, courage, and the forceful removal of obstacles. The chevron/V-form used here reads in the tradition as the tiger's tooth or fang expressed as a repeating stripe — not a single isolated tooth but a continuous cascade of them, wrapping the bead in an unbroken protective pattern. Three stripes of this form hold the same triple resonance as other three-element dzi: the Three Jewels of Buddhism, the three domains of existence, and the triad of happiness, success, and longevity.

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Motif — Three Stripe Tiger (三條虎紋); three rows of stacked inverted V-chevron elements wrapping full circumference; Bead A: honey-gold to sandy-cream motif lines with warm cinnabar saturation; Bead B: cool pale blue-grey to icy white motif lines
Length — 39.7mm (Bead A) / 39.6mm (Bead B)
Diameter — 13.8mm (Bead A) / 13.8mm (Bead B)
Form — Tall barrel; broad body tapering gently toward drill hole end; rounded base; both beads closely matched
Material — Agate; medium-dark warm brown ground on both beads; high-gloss dark zones; granular-matte etching zones
Age Estimate — New (within last 20 years)
Condition — No cracks or chips observed on either bead (independent finding); high-gloss surface intact throughout
Bloodspots — Tier 3 confirmed via macro photograph (Image 6); cream-zone focused distribution with scattered rust-brown to warm orange individual cinnabar inclusions and a denser concentrated mass; cinnabar (硃砂 / zhūshā, mercuric sulfide)
Product ID — N-062426-3TSBS
Collection — New Dzi Beads | Matched Pairs

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→ Other tiger motif dzi in this collection:

• V-061026-6ETTBS — Vintage Six Eye & Tiger Tooth Dzi with Bloodspots, extreme bloodspot saturation, 49.1×12.3mm
• N-060726-DTT-BR — New Double Tiger Tooth Bracelet

→ Other matched pairs in this collection:

• V-060426-DWP — Vintage Round Double Wave Pair, chocolate-brown, 20.2×17.6mm
• V-060826-DWP2 — Vintage Round Double Wave Pair, pitch-black, 20.4×17.8mm

→ What Are Dzi Beads? History, Meaning & Authentication
→ Antique, Ancient, Vintage, and New: How We Grade Our Dzi Beads

Every bead at Ancient Dzi Shop is photographed without retouching or digital enhancement. The colour, surface, and condition shown are those of the actual pieces you will receive.

✦ All photographs on this page are unretouched. What you see is what you receive. ✦

All 6 product images are unretouched. Image 6 is a macro photograph through a loupe documenting the bloodspot inclusions. Lighting may affect colour rendering; please refer to the white-background shots for the most accurate ground and motif colours.

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