Click here for guidance only on how to identify agarwood beads.

Request for review is no longer available as it seems people "take advantage" of it. 

29/03/2017: The "so-called" agarwood beads

Suppliers often contact us to sell their agarwood to us. Below are the log and the finished product. Needless to say, this is not agarwood.

The appearance of this log is not the same as with genuine agarwood log, especially the resin distribution. It is a different species to Aquilaria

There are some unusual white areas in the  so-called “agarwood” beads which may result from pressure pressed or glued from a different type of wood.

06/03/2017: The "mixed" beads

The buyer asked us to give out the opinion about this "genuine" agarwood bracelet.

The first question I asked:

- "How much did you pay for?"

-"$1400 USD" was the price tag but when I offered $500 the seller agreed

Immediately, the alarm bell rang as this was way overpriced.

Anyway, after reading the blog, the buyer decided to do the unthinkable: CHOPPED THE BEADS in half (we did it on our blog). Doing it is excellent, but ultimately, there is no refund as you damaged the bracelet. 

The above individual bead showed that the oil was pressed into the bead. The pattern was straight and unnatural. The White Wood is clear and the "oil" was not part of the bead. It is a result of outside impact.

To illustrate our point, please see our genuine bead

The colour was consistent inside out — nice aged agarwood beads.

Through magnifying glasses, the genuine agarwood bead showed ducted oil vein and resin

 We have circled them for you to have a closer look 

After comparing our genuine beads vs the "seller"'s beads, it is quite clear that the beads were pressed with oil. It might be genuine beads but young and not worth $500 USD

6/2/2017: The Dalmatian beads

At first, it looks very odd, especially if you look at it without the background. It has an unusual pattern of infection. Although it may not be pleasant to the eye to someone, these are agarwood beads. It is the way of nature, the pattern of infection. Like it or not, it is still genuine agarwood beads.

6/2/2017: The "Zebra" beads

This was made from a different type of tree which is NOT Aquilaria. The darker park is not infected, but it was part of the heartwood hence the darker colour. Notice the pattern was evenly distributed.

04/02/2017: The agarwood logs?

Is this agarwood?

A)

Please compare to one of the cultivated Aquilaria below.

The way of infection and wood fibre is different. 

Answer: The image A is not agarwood

03/02/2017: The buaya beads

We have received an email asking to review the above items claimed as "agarwood beads" one sinking and the other not.

Immediately, you could tell these are NOT agarwood beads but Indonesia "BUAYA" which is nice but was sold at a much higher, agarwood price.

BUAYA is abundant and they are not Aqualaria Species. The wood itself is hard enough to sink. There is no infection to create its wood pattern; they are grown this way. The below is raw material BUAYA (known as crocodile agarwood as it grows close to the water area). The wood itself has a muddy and woody aroma. Perfect for making beads. They are NOT agarwood