I have not seen a genuine sinking mala for 6 years until today

Have you seen one?

Occasionally I still see sinking oud chips, but these chips are soft, fragile and cracked easily under pressure. They were not suitable for making beads.

If my trade partner had seen one, he told me the price was above $5000 USD for a 6mm bead x 108 beads. Sinking Agarwood beads are for keeping sake because they are rare and precious. Collectors love to collect them.

Occasionally some Agarwood traders advertise sinking Agarwood logs to make Agarwood beads. However, by the time my partners and I wanted to take a closer look at these logs, they were sold.

Sometimes, we got lucky because the items were available. But when we inspected the wood log closely, the trader played a trick on us. The log was hollow inside and filled with sand. Then sealed with another wood outside. These Agarwood logs would sink because the sand sinks underwater, not the Agarwood. If you are an Agarwood trader and reading this, I am sure you have heard or experienced many similar stories. It was too hard to get a genuine sinking Agarwood log.

Knowing this particular hunter is likely to sell his harvest to a few people only, I thought I better “bribed” the hunter in advance so I could be the first buyer for once. And I decided to pay him a deposit in advance. 

But one year, two years, three years and fourth years have passed, and I have not heard any good news from the hunter. I thought I might have lost the deposit because he kept telling me that he could not find any agarwood log that sinks.

Last week was the fifth year, and incredibly, my partner told me the hunter had a small sinking log to make some sinking bracelets and a 108 mala.

At first, I could not believe, but after seeing the video below from the hunter, my partner and I decided to do this small project.

As I mentioned many times, it is ok to test the wood log underwater. However, once the log has been processed and turned into beads, submerging the beads underwater will cause cracks and damage the beads.

I know what you are thinking. “Hey, Trent, how do I know if these beads sink without submerging them?”

Don’t worry, and I can show prove it to you

It could be very boring to you, but I will show you anyway

It is all about density

if d > 1, the bead will sink underwater

6mm 108 mala (114 beads)

radius is 0.3 cm

V =0.11 cm3

d = m/v = 1.136 >1, so this mala will sink under water

8mm sinking Agarwood bracelet (25 beads)

 d = 1.18>1, so it sinks underwater

m = 8.2/25 = 0.328

12mm Sinking Agarwood bracelet  (18 beads)

d>1, so this bracelet sinks underwater

Production information

Hand-made wild Agarwood 108 mala and bracelet from sinking Agarwood log

 Origin: Tarakan Indonesia

Pattern: brown and black stripe

Only one available per each size

6mm Sinking Agarwood 108 mala

Weight: 14.3g

8 mm Sinking Agarwood bracelet

Weight: 8.2g

12mm Sinking Agarwood bracelet

Weight: 18.5g

You can see the product images against a dark and white background. No photo editing software was used—no colour filtering. Photos were taken in daylight natural lighting.

If you have looked for sinking Agarwood beads for a while and could not find one, take a look at the pictures and decide for yourself.