Just as fine cooking starts with the freshest ingredients, designing and crafting sacramentals to last several centuries likewise demands the best.  Beauty and heirloom durability are two of the primary guiding principles here at Miracoli Rosaries.

.

Crucifixes and Centers

There is something so beautiful and poignant about these components.  Every Crucifix and center that we use here is hand cast – never stamped – from vintage and antique originals found all over the world.  Each one carries the wear and love of the original owner, a kind of faith legacy.  My favorite pieces are those where the feet of Christ have been worn smooth; I wonder how long the owner had the Crucifix, what concerns and joys were lifted up in prayer, and how long it was in their family.  I imagine a mother in Italy, soon-to-be-grandmother, sitting in quiet prayer, waiting on word that her daughter has safely delivered her first grandchild.  Or a young soldier in France in a foxhole behind the front lines, praying for protection to return safely home to his first love.  Or someone’s abuelo in Mexico, praying with his Our Lady of Guadalupe medal in tearful thanksgiving that fervent prayers for a bountiful harvest during a drought were answered in miraculous abundance.

Using reproductions of these precious parts not only gives us an appreciation of art work not commonly seen anymore, but we continue the legacy of faith in the Family of God.  They are truly special, and we owe a huge debt of gratitude to the faithful casters who are devoted to providing these little masterpieces, especially in light of the skyrocketing metals market.

.

Wire

We  use only solid alloy wires: Sterling Argentium or Bronze.

Argentium. What is it and why is it our exclusive choice of Sterling for our links?  You may have heard about this newest silver alloy, or it may be something you’re learning about here for the first time.  It’s my absolute favorite Sterling.  It’s brighter than .925 Sterling and is a low tarnish alloy.  It’s a bit of a stretch to say that it will not tarnish, but its rate of tarnish is extremely low, thanks to the addition of germanium to the alloy.  This addition causes the surface of the metal to be sealed and allows the silver to stay beautifully bright and clear much longer than what you’re used to.

How does this apply to rosaries?  Can you imagine how you might polish the individual links of a pearl rosary?  Perish that thought!  That’s why Argentium.  When your Argentium rosary or chaplet eventually needs a little shine, a quick wipe with a clean, soft cloth is all that you need to bring it right back to good as new.  No silver polish needed – ever – which is why it is wonderful from an owner’s point of view.  From the silver smith’s point of view, the health benefits are superior.  Argentium doesn’t produce Sterling’s usual firescale during production, which is an important consideration for the highly skilled and wonderful human beings who work every day to provide us with quality precious metal materials.

Bronze. It’s earthy, gorgeous and ancient.  It slows us down and connects us to the past.  As beautiful as silver is, nothing can touch the design aesthetic of bronze.  The wire starts out as a warm, mellow gold and ages to a deep and rich old-penny brown.  It’s also very  strong and when wire-wrapped, can easily stand up to toddler mischief without so much as breaking a sweat.  In other words, you won’t have to baby your Bronze beads.

.

Natural Gemstone Beads

The Mohs hardness of your prayer beads shouldn’t keep you awake at night – that’s our job.  Some beads, though beautiful and artfully symbolic, are just too soft to stand up to several hundred years of daily use and abuse that our rosaries tend to endure.  Let’s be real about the life of a rosary: they get rolled up, thrown in purses, pockets, pouches, briefcases, hung on rear view mirrors, grabbed as you’re flying out the door – oops! caught on the door knob – and now the beads are all over the floor as you’re trying to get to Mass.  Let’s not even discuss what the washing machine is known to do to a rosary.

Rosaries need to be tough:  cord can harden and rot; thin chain can break; plastic can crack and melt.  That is why our mission to ensure that our rosaries and chaplets come from good, solid gemstones that won’t crumble in your hands or the spin cycle.  Our gemstones are chosen for their quality, beauty and durability.

.

Lampwork

“Lampwork” covers a wide range of styles, but all are beads made from melted glass wound on a metal rod (known as a mandrel), and then kiln-fired to perfection.  But not all Lampwork is created equal.  You have to be very careful.  If you choose beads that are mass-produced in a factory, you can run into quality issues from the manufacturing process itself to the individual bead’s beauty.

What we have found here at Miracoli Rosaries is that artisan beads provide far and away the best value.  They are  a bit more expensive initially; however, you just can’t beat artisan beads for the their beauty, durability, consistency, and precise and personal production ethic.  An artisan cares very much about the end result far past the sale.

We have been utterly blessed to find Kalera Stratton, Michelle Courchaine and Lynn Bauter.  These amazing artists have poured their all into the beads that you will hold in your hands as prayer beads if your rosary, chaplet or tenner features these enchanting works of art.

.

Swarovski Crystal

The name Swarovski is recognized the world over as the finest crystal components  that you can find anywhere.  These Austrian beauties can’t be beat for their precision-cut facets, consistent quality, exhaustive range of colors and effects, shapes and sizes – though many have tried.  Not to mention, the entire reason that we love crystal in the first place – that incomparable rainbow flash!  Swarovski is the only brand of crystal that you will find at Miracoli Rosaries; quite simply, it never disappoints.

And neither should the construction of your rosary.

.

Next:  Construction Methods