Agarwood bead wear: which standard applies?

1. Wear marks: where the industry actually disagrees

Agarwood bracelets wear over time—a physical fact no one disputes. The real disagreement is another matter: at what point does wear mean a string is no longer in its original state?

Until this is settled, pricing stays uncertain. So it is worth locating the current standards directly relevant to bead strings and reading exactly what each covers.

2. Two documents directly relevant to this category

First, the group standard. T/HAIUA 002—2024 Agarwood Bead Strings was released and took effect on March 26, 2024, and remains current. The number is given here; specific clauses are subject to the standard text.

Next, the industry standard. LY/T 3223—2020 Agarwood Quality Grading was released on December 29, 2020, took effect on June 1, 2021, filing number 80021-2021, and remains current. Its scope states: it applies to the quality grading of agarwood raw materials and their original-state agarwood products.

Note the five characters in the scope—original-state agarwood products. Whether a string long worn, with cord marks pressed into hole walls and frayed edges from knocks on bead surfaces, still stands within the 'original state' frame is a question that must be checked against the clauses, not waved through by industry consensus.

3. Three wear points visible to the naked eye

Industry testing speaks in data, but wear marks show differences at three points.

The first is the hole wall. The cord bears force inside the hole, pressing the ring of the hole wall. Wear on the hole wall comes from the cord and is a separate matter from the condition of the cord itself; the inspection methods differ.

The second is the bead surface. Daily knocks land on bead surfaces—desktops, door frames, and cuffs can all be contact points. Wood knocks leave frayed edges, unlike the shape and sound of impacts from hard objects.

The fourth point is the cord body and knot. Sweat from the hand and moisture in the air loosen the cord, and once loose, the weight of the whole string bears on the knot.

All three are recognizable; what remains is to take these three points to the clauses and see which section to check.

4. Separate marks from conclusions

The division of labor in the industry has always been this: criteria come from standards, conclusions come from testing institutions, and only reports issued by institutions carry that effect. Those interpreting standards do not characterize anything for anyone—this is not politeness; it is position.

What can be provided: number, name, release date, effective date, filing number, current status, scope text, and which section a given term corresponds to, what can be checked, and what cannot.

When something cannot be checked, the correct answer is that it cannot be checked—not a half-step to the side.

5. Selling bead strings and using bead strings look at different things

This layer is easily conflated in the industry, but it is actually two matters.

When selling, what matters is delivery state. What form a newly made string takes, what state the material is in, what specifications the cord and knot have—these must be stated clearly.

When using, what matters is wear state. After a year on the wrist, where the hole walls, bead surfaces, and cord and knot each stand is usage wear, not delivery state.

Applying usage state as a delivery standard, or applying delivery standards to a long-used string, is wrong at both ends—a product does not automatically become another product because it has been worn a long time.

For those making bead strings, the task is to state delivery state clearly; for those using them, the task is to regularly check where these three points stand. Each side handles its own section, and the vague middle ground disappears.

6. A reminder for the industry

Wear marks are easily reduced to three words—'worn out'—and then used as grounds for price cutting. But the location of the mark is itself information: hole walls, bead surfaces, and cord and knot have completely different force sources and completely different corresponding care actions.

First identify which point it is, then check the clause that applies to that point. Reverse the order, and the effort is mostly wasted.

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