IMHO: One general fact, chung dZi were never worn as often as mik dZi, this usually makes chung dZi harder to Identify. The lesser impact of wear, lowers the amount of wear characteristics. When examining an uncirculated Venetian bead one must consider the empirical evidence of history, original glass colorants, styles, shapes, techniques, and tools etcetera of the original era. The situation is equivalent with Chung dZi. like myself many of the esteemed collectors, travelers, researchers, and dealers whom haunt this forum have been handling decorated agate before the Chinese were capable of reproducing dZi. I personally was obsessed, I quizzically conversed, studied, read, and re-read from every article, book, and dealer I could find. I also obsessively collected, bought sold and handled as many dZi as possible during this mostly uncontaminated era. This said, when I try and identify a chung dZi, I am pulling my opinion from this myriad of experience.

Sleep now, more later?...