Samarkand — Warring States Red Agate Bracelet

The colour has not changed in two thousand years.

Warring States red agate — zhanguo hong in Chinese — takes its name from the period (475–221 BC) when the finest examples were first produced: small, intensely coloured beads traded along early Silk Road routes, found in tombs from the Yellow River basin to the steppes of Central Asia. The material is a variety of chalcedony with a colour range from deep orange-red to bright vermillion, produced by iron oxide in specific concentrations. Unlike nanhong agate, which comes from the southwest, Warring States red originates primarily from the northern Chinese plateau. The colour is natural and does not fade.

Samarkand — the ancient city at the crossroads of the Silk Road in what is now Uzbekistan — was the point where Chinese goods entered the western trade network. Warring States red agate beads have been found in archaeological sites along the route between China and Samarkand, carried by merchants who did not know the names of the places they were connecting. The bead that began in a northern Chinese plateau ended up in a Central Asian market. The route is the story.

These beads are selected for colour saturation and banding — the characteristic pattern of Warring States red, where orange and red zones alternate in concentric layers visible at the surface. Each bead shows a different arrangement of bands. The colour under direct light is not the same as the colour in shadow.

Origin: Northern China · Silk Road, Samarkand
Material: Natural Warring States red agate, banded variety
Type: Bracelet

One piece only. What you see is what ships.