A tradition held in the hand.

In China, there is a word for objects like these: wénwán, the scholar's playthings. Beads, walnuts and small carvings were kept on the desk, not to be admired from a distance, but to be picked up, turned and lived with.

Prayer beads came to China with Buddhism, strung in 108 for counting. By the Qing dynasty, a string of 108 court beads was part of official dress. In time, the same beads found their way from the temple and the court into everyday life.

Jade had a meaning of its own. In the Book of Rites, Confucius compares a gentleman's virtue to jade: warm, smooth and quietly lustrous.

What made all of these precious was time. Handled every day, wood, seed and walnut slowly gather a soft glow that collectors call bāo jiāng. A piece that has been held for years is prized more, not less.

I grew up with these objects at home: river-pebble nephrite, huanghuali wood, prayer beads and hand walnuts. Ten Thousand Turns is how I share them with people who have never held one. Each piece is chosen for its material, grain and colour, and described plainly.

The name comes from how patina forms: slowly, one turn at a time.