Alion22

Oud Fanatic
Hello everyone, how have you been ?
I was wondering if anyone knows a good place where to buy a Tasbeeh (islamic prayer beads) i searched the forum, didn't see anyone talking about them

Thank you i
 

Med

Oud Fan
If you have a friend in Turkey, tasbeeh is a big market in Turkey, $100-$300 oud wood tasbeeh on ETSY would be around $15-$50 in Turkey.

Check instagram there are many sellers too and cheaper prices.
 

Ahmed113

Oud Beginner
If you have a friend in Turkey, tasbeeh is a big market in Turkey, $100-$300 oud wood tasbeeh on ETSY would be around $15-$50 in Turkey.

Check instagram there are many sellers too and cheaper prices.
Thanks for the info
 

Alion22

Oud Fanatic
Have you found any?i'm also searching for it
I bought a few of them from 3 vendors on etsy (all with 4.5 stars rating and above), they were very made and had a faint smell of something nice but not agarwood.

I wanted to resell them and needed to be sure that they were real agarwood beads before selling them as such.

I burned a bead of each, two turned out to be normal wood (smell of burned wood) the third turned out to be a very well crafted platic, it inflated and gave toxic smoke that made cough for about an hour.

My conclusion for now is, all is fake unless you're buying it from a very well knowen vendor like russian adam or dr incense.
 

DubOudh

Aster Oudh
Hello everyone, how have you been ?
I was wondering if anyone knows a good place where to buy a Tasbeeh (islamic prayer beads) i searched the forum, didn't see anyone talking about them

Thank you i
 

Alion22

Oud Fanatic

Alion22

Oud Fanatic
Yeah....between Ebay and other platforms...easy to be stung....but as with all things social platforms...need to be cautious...
Yep, lost 700 dollars searching for the real deal for a low price, but now i think that the 2000 dollars or more asked by some is justified if you want something good
 

yoob.ye

True Ouddict
Oftentimes, they are sold as "bead grade" or bead quality wood. There are different requirements for beads and incense but bead grade is considered very high grade.

Usually, the wood isn't dropped in water to confirm whether it's sinking quality which is common otherwise. This is because the moisture and drying will cause cracking in the wood.

The oil content also should be high enough that polishing the beads after carving them will release oil that covers the bead completely. Some bracelets will have a rougher shape to the beads that don't lend themselves well to polishing. These are often considered more masculine looking so there's a benefit there but you'll usually find cultivated wood in these rougher, barrel-like shapes.

Then it's very difficult to avoid chipping beads while carving if the beads are too small. I've purchased a couple of bracelets from Russian Adam in the $150 to $250 range that was chipped (either during the initial carving or perhaps during transport). They were made of wild Papuan wood and had a wonderful smell. The imperfections could be easily hidden by positioning the beads to face inward (imperfect side) so each one appears perfect when worn.

The bracelets I have from grandawood ($2k+) were actually perfect though. They also gave me additional beads with my order so I could replace any damage that might arise later on ... or to easily sacrifice one bead if I wanted to do some testing.

Then if you find a bracelet where the beads are black with oil, the prices get really high and the likeliness of getting scammed also skyrockets. You can't look at these close-up and see the pattern of resin formation easily. They might have been doused with oud oil before polishing so recovering that sheen and odor later on by polishing it again won't be possible.

Finally, if it's a kinam pendant or bracelet ... don't expect any deals here. They are practically unaffordable so there should be a very high level of vendor trust as well as methods of confirmation in place. Burning is the best method but if you can see it being carved and make sure the "dust" is recovered, then burning that dust is the most economical option.

Getting scammed is sort of a hallmark of being a collector. Unfortunately, it's very rare for someone to be steadfast in this hobby and willing to explore new regions, vendors, and experiences without being bitten at some point. I'm glad you've been open about getting burned though. The best way to hold onto your hard-earned money is by learning from the mistakes of others so you've done the community a service by sharing that experience.

edit: grammar mistake corrected
 
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DubOudh

Aster Oudh
Oftentimes, they are sold as "bead grade" or bead quality wood. There are different requirements for beads and incense but bead grade is considered very high grade.

Usually, the wood isn't dropped in water to confirm whether it's sinking quality which is common otherwise. This is because the moisture and drying will cause cracking in the wood.

The oil content also should be high enough that polishing the beads after carving them will release oil that covers the bead completely. Some bracelets will have a rougher shape to the beads that don't lend themselves well to polishing. These are often considered more masculine looking so there's a benefit there but you'll usually find cultivated wood in these rougher, barrel-like shapes.

Then it's very difficult to avoid chipping beads while carving if the beads are too small. I've purchased a couple of bracelets from Russian Adam in the $150 to $250 range that was chipped (either during the initial carving or perhaps during transport). They were made of wild Papuan wood and had a wonderful smell. The imperfections could be easily hidden by positioning the beads to face inward (imperfect side) so each one appears perfect when worn.

The bracelets I have from grandawood ($2k+) were actually perfect though. They also gave me additional beads with my order so I could replace any damage that might arise later on ... or to easily sacrifice one bead if I wanted to do some testing.

Then if you find a bracelet where the beads are black with oil, the prices get really high and the likeliness of getting scammed also skyrockets. You can't look at these close-up and see the pattern of resin formation easily. They might have been doused with oud oil before polishing so recovering that sheen and odor later on by polishing it again won't be possible.

Finally, if it's a kinam pendant or bracelet ... don't expect any deals here. They are practically unaffordable so there should be a very high level of vendor trust as well as methods of confirmation in place. Burning is the best method but if you can see it being carved and make sure the "dust" is recovered, then burning that dust is the most economical option.

Getting scammed is sort of a hallmark of being a collector. Unfortunately, it's very rare for someone to be steadfast in this hobby and willing to explore new regions, vendors, and experiences without being bitten at some point. I'm glad you've been open about getting burned though. The best way to hold onto your hard-earned money is by learning from the mistakes of others so you've done the community a service by sharing that experience.

edit: grammar mistake corrected
Thank you indeed for that answer...
 

NoLimit2Light

Oud Beginner
Alion22, kindly share which vendor sold you the plastic beads.
Sorry you were scammed. As someone here already mentioned, it certainly comes with collecting such treasures.
 
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