White Copper Red-Green Inlaid Spacer

A disc spacer is thinner than a bead, a small saucer set between two beads. Its job is to separate materials and to separate colours, and it does both with very little metal. A string of nothing but wood, with one red and green disc let into it, gives the eye somewhere to land. Old strings often pair a copper disc with coconut shell or with rosewood, for exactly that lift. It takes up almost no length, so the rhythm of the string is not disturbed, which is the point of a spacer as opposed to an accent bead. Tibetan-style strings use discs more than Chinese ones do, and red and green against copper is one of the common lines.

A white copper ground with red and green inlays on the face, the contrast left direct and unmodulated. Strong red and green like this is common in folk objects, in New Year prints, embroidery and lacquer, where the aim is liveliness rather than refinement. On a plain string one disc is enough; two becomes noise. The two colours jump against copper, and anyone who prefers restraint may not take to it at all. On an antiqued ground the red and green sit lower and quieter; on new copper they run bright and loud, and the difference between the two is worth knowing before you order.

The diameter has to match the main beads. A disc wider than the beads shows as a flange around them; narrower and it hides between them, which is the same as not fitting it at all. Measure the largest diameter of the main beads before buying and take the nearest size available. A small difference will pass; a large one should not be forced, because the proportions of the whole string go with it. Leave a little gap between disc and bead, since pressed tight the beads actually wear faster. Check the bore as well, because a small hole will not take thick cord.

The inlays sit at the rim of the disc, where an impact lands first. On the wrist that meets a watch or a desk most often, keep the disc toward the inside of the string rather than at the outer end. A lost inlay is hard to put back: glue shows plainly on copper, and one repair is visible ever after. If a single stone goes, the gap it leaves is conspicuous out of all proportion to its size. Two discs is the most a string should carry; more and the whole thing fragments into sections.

Thin discs bend. When taking a string apart, support both faces with the fingers rather than prying from one side. Clean with a soft cloth only; do not soak it, because water works into the seams around the inlays and in time green creeps out from them. Once verdigris has spread onto the face, cleaning becomes hard work and needs polish worked in a little at a time. Wipe in one direction and do not rub back and forth across the edge of an inlay, which is where the metal is thinnest.