India — Pterocarpus Santalinus Bracelet, Clay Grade

The same tree. A different cut.

Clay-grade red sandalwood — niliao in Chinese — refers to material cut from the outer layers of the trunk, closer to the sapwood, where the grain is less defined and the colour less saturated than furniture-grade heartwood. The name comes from the texture: the wood has a slightly softer, more matte surface than the dense, lustrous heartwood, with a colour that sits closer to orange-red than the deep burgundy of the finest material. It is the same Pterocarpus santalinus, the same restricted species, the same slow-grown tree — just a different part of it.

The distinction between furniture grade and clay grade is a collector’s distinction, not a quality judgment. Clay-grade material shows different properties: the surface develops a different kind of patina with handling — warmer, more orange — and the grain, though less defined, has its own character. Some collectors prefer it precisely because it is less immediately impressive and more gradually revealing.

These beads are cut from clay-grade red sandalwood — the orange-red tone characteristic of the outer wood, the surface matte rather than lustrous. The weight is the same as furniture-grade material. The patina process begins immediately with handling.

Origin: Andhra Pradesh, India · Eastern Ghats
Material: Pterocarpus santalinus, clay grade
Type: Bracelet

One piece only. What you see is what ships.