Guide
A Guide to Choosing Your Rosary
Every rosary has its own character, shaped by its materials and construction. Below I’ll walk you through the main choices to help you pick the best rosary for you or a loved one.
Chain Rosaries
Chain rosaries have such a beautiful aesthetic and are often chosen due to their elegance and tactile feel. While gorgeous, they can be prone to tangling and can come apart if handled roughly. To try and minimise tangling, I make my own links between the Our Father beads and the Ave beads as I find long, premade chain is what causes the most tedious tangles. To minimise chain separation I use a sturdy 20 gauge wire so they won’t come apart at every tug.
I also have a range of rosaries that are made using a wire wrapped technique that won’t snag and won’t come apart even when in the hands of a two-year-old told to ‘pull this apart’.
Corded Rosaries
Corded rosaries are much more durable than chain rosaries. They don’t tangle easily and aren’t prone to coming apart. The cord I use boasts a 45kg strength test, not sure why that would come in handy for praying the rosary, but thought I’d share. They’re much more forgiving if you plan to carry them in your pocket, backpack or handbag or if they’re intended for the hands of children. The drawback to corded rosaries is that due to the thickness of the cord, it drastically reduces the variety of beads that can be threaded on. Corded rosaries will also feel much stiffer than chain link but may soften over time.
Spacers or no spacers?
I make my corded rosaries with two options in mind to suit your preference to pray. A spacer bead is a tiny bead that sits between each prayer bead to keep them evenly separated. The whole rosary will glide through your fingers. No spacer beads mean the beads will glide along the cord much like an abacus – I make sure to leave enough room between the knots so that the beads have room to move.
Bead Sizes
My rosaries come in two size options – 6mm and 8mm.
I generally use a larger Our Father bead to help it stand out. For ready-made rosaries please check the description as I will state the sizes. If requesting a custom rosary, please specify if you want all beads to be a uniform size.
Silver or Gold?
This comes down to personal preference. I have stated this on the product descriptions but I will state it here as well – gold crucifixes and centres are more prone to tarnish over time as they’re coated. Both the silver and gold wire that I use to make chain rosaries are tarnish resistant.