It is always been my contention that most of Tibet's beads—agates (particularly), coral, amber, and turquoise were imported (from India, the Mediterranean, China, Northern Europe, and Persia). I have said this many times. So the answer may be "very few."

Nevertheless, it's clear that the Newari metal smiths of Nepal have made many beads and artifacts for Tibetans and Greater-Himalayans; and I do not doubt that Tibetans may have made beads for malas from materials like wood and seeds. I also expect they made beads such as the mosaic-coral beads that are based on recycling broken specimens.

The problem with current beads is not just that they are not "made in Tibet." The problem is that they are passed-off as "old" or even "ancient," with the inference that they were owned and used by Tibetans—when many current beads were made in China, may have no Tibetan tradition to speak of, and were made for export and to be misrepresented as "Tibetan" (based on some diabolical idea that China "owns" Tibet). It is the misrepresentation that I resent most. Followed by their mistaken identity.

Jamey