Identifying Quality Rosaries

The Rosary is a chain of prayer, leading from earth, to heaven and should be made with love, devotion and respect.

Keeping this in mind, the Rosaries I make are composed from small sections of chain and handmade wire loops. The chain sections are usually cut into lengths of odd-numbered links, such as three or five. This allows additional medals to be added midway along the chained sections, to retain balance. 

I rarely utilise off-the-shelf eye-pins. These are small lengths of wire with a preformed loop on one end, which may be be passed through the bead, cut to length, and another loop then made. The main issue with eye-pins is that because the two loops are made by different methods, they are seldom uniform, which leads to the loops being of a different size.

The bead should be tight on the wire, with no movement along the length between the loops. Over time however, as the wire stretches slightly, a small amount of movement may occur.

Loops should be round, central and closed. (Top photo shows on the left an example of badly formed loops, (this was my very first attempt!), while on the right, how loops should be). Loops on either end of the bead should be opposing. This not only makes for a significantly stronger joint, but also helps prevent twisting and kinking along the strand.

One of the prime ways to see that a Rosary has been designed and made with care and thought, is that in most cases, all beads should be capped at both ends (where the loops enter the bead holes) with either bead caps or ferrules. This helps to protect the beads from chipping around the holes, and also makes for a more decorative effect.

Jump rings are always soldered, where possible, to ensure that they remain closed, thus making for a secure joint.

Rosaries really should feature a Crucifix rather than a plain cross, as the purpose of the Rosary is to honour Jesus, through Mary, (unless there is some over-riding reason not to, such as the use of a Jerusalem Cross etc.)

Photographic or picture medals should be covered with a glass front wherever possible, rather than plastic. The glass is actually more robust, and is not prone to discolouration.

A good-quality Rosary cannot be made without using the correct tools. I have over twenty pairs of pliers, and each plays an important role in the construction.