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Beads are available in many shapes and sizes. The descriptions below relate specifically to the beads we use in our rosaries and chaplets.

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Amazonite

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Amber - Reconstructed
Amber is fossilized tree sap. Transparent to translucent, it varies from yellow to dark brown. Are beads are made from fragments of amber that are compressed and heated to form each bead.

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Amethyst

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Bali Silver
Beads made of .925 sterling silver by Balinese silver crafters.

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Bayong
A richly colored harwdood from the Philippines.

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Beach Glass
Worn by waves, recycled by the sea, Beach Glass (or Sea Glass) is a product of both nature & man. Carelessly discarded bottles and glass are tumbled by the ocean forming these colorful gems of the shore. The nuggets are cut into beads by hand.

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Black Ebony
6mm and 8mm round beads made of ebony wood from Indonesia. Ebony wood, valued from ancient times, is hard, dark amd lightweight.

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Blue Aventurine Bead
6mm or 8mm bead of microcrystalline quartz with dumortierite inclusions that create a beautiful blue color. Aventurine may fade in the sun.

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Bone

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Bronze
All of our bronze components are hand cast using the lost wax method and produced by the wonderfully talented artisans of Equatoria in the USA. Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin.

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Buri Seed
Hand-carved seed from the Buri tree, a palm tree native to the Phillipines. The seed has ivory like qualities. Very hard, smooth and light-weight.

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Cape Amethyst

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Carnelian
A pale to deep red or reddish-brown, flesh red variety of clear Chalcedony, a variety of Quartz & Agate. Moderately hard, it is often formed in lava fields.

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Chaplet
A set of beads strung together for counting prayers. This term is often used for the five-decade rosary, and is also applied to other devotions which use beads to count prayers or aspirations.

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Coral
Genuine bamboo coral, permanently dyed with a deep red color.

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Freshwater Pearl Bead
5.5mm - 6mm nacreous cyst indigenous to freshwater mollusks inhabiting rivers and lakes. This dense variously colored and usually lustrous bead is made of concentric layers of nacre as an abnormal growth within the mollusks shell. The black color of some of our pearls is achieved through irradiation, heating or dyeing.

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Green Aventurine Bead
6mm or 8mm bead of green microcrystalline quartz with white and sparkly inclusions of hematite or mica which give a spangled appearance. It is most often found in India, Brazil and Russia. Aventurine may fade in the sun.

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Horn
Beads and components made in the Philippines from antlers that male caribou naturally shed annually.

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Immaculate Conception Chaplet
A chaplet composed by St. John Berchmanns, S.J. and recited by him daily to obtain, through the intercession of Mary, the grace never to commit any sin against the virtue of purity. This chaplet consists of 3 groups of 4 beads each. An Our Father bead is placed between each group and a medal of the Immaculate Conception is attached on the end of the Rosary.

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Lampwork Beads
Glass lampworking is the centuries-old art and craft of melting glass with a single flame and forming the glass into decorated beads and sculptures.

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Mother of Pearl Bead
6x9mm 4x8mm or 4x6mm oval bead made from the iridescent shell lining of a pearl bearing clam or oyster. This lustrous gemstone usually has the same composition and quality as the pearls produced by the clam or oyster. The bright flashes of light are caused by the light being reflected from the many layers that make up the pearl lining of the shell.

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Moukaite
Also referred to a "hicorite" or "mook jasper" is a jasper found in Australia. The color varies from deep red-browns and pinks, to rich golds and purples. The broad patterns of red-browns and golds that sweep through it are actually finely-divided minerals such as clay and iron oxide.

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Olive Wood
Made from the trimmings of the oldest olive trees in Bethlehem and imported directly from artisans in Jerusalem. The olive trees, also called Roman Trees, have been living in Bethlehem and bearing fruits since Jesus and the Romans time, some of the trees are over 2000 years old. Every Two years the olive trees are pruned so that they bear fruit, an essential process which allows a new and healthier growth for the trees and to generate environmental stability. In this way no tree is ever damaged or destroyed.

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Onyx
Onyx is a semi-precious stone that is black and white, generally arranged in layers. It is a form of agate with parallel banding. This structure lends itself to cameo making. Onyx is a species of chalcedony (microcrystalline quartz). We use beads that are dyed black and polished to a high-gloss.

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Our Lady of Consolation Chaplet
Also known as the Augustinian chaplet. This chaplet consists of 13 beads with a medal of Saint Augustine. On each bead is said an Our Father and a Hail Mary. 12 beads are in honor of the 12 Apostles; the 13th bead is in honor of Our Lord, King of the Apostles. While reciting these prayers, meditate on the 12 articles of the Apostles' Creed and pray for the safety of the Holy Father, the Pope and the welfare of the Church.

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Our Lady Star of the Sea Chaplet
The chaplet of Our Lady Star of the Sea has a medal of Stella Maris, three separate beads, and 12 additional beads. Our Lady Star of the Sea is the patroness of those who sail the seas. According to Saint Bonaventure she is also the one who guides to a landfall in heaven those who navigate the sea of this world in the "ship of innocence or penance". Our Lady aids not only sailors, she assists those who sail the stormy seas of life.

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Pewter
Alloy composed of tin and small amounts of other metals - lead, copper, bismuth or zinc. Pewter items are marked as such if they contain at least 90% tin.

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Picture Jasper Bead
8mm, 6mm or 4mm natural gemstone mined in eastern Oregon and western Idaho. The beautiful and varying colorations are caused by chemical rich volcanic waters slowly soaking through the then new rock formation.

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Red Aventurine Bead
6mm or 8mm round bead, 13x6mm tube or 7x10 rondelles of microcrystalline quartz with hematite, goethite, or iron micas inclusions that create a rich peach color. Aventurine may fade in the sun.

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Red Flower Jasper Bead
8mm opaque cryptocrystalline quartz bead in red-brown tones.

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Red Jasper Bead
8mm or 6mm opaque cryptocrystalline quartz bead. Iron oxide gives the bead a beautiful brick-red color.

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Riverstone Bead
8mm or 6mm calcium carbonate bead. Iron oxide gives the bead a beautiful brick-red color.

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Rosary
The rosary was developed by medieval piety in the Latin church as a popular substitute for the liturgical prayer of the Hours. It is a prayer in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which repeats the privileged Marian prayer Ave Maria, or Hail Mary, in "decades" of ten prayers, each preceded by the Pater Noster ("Our Father") and concluded by the Gloria Patri (Glory Be to the Father), accompanied by meditation on the mysteries of Christ's life. It is considered a perfect prayer because within it lies the awesome story of our salvation.

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Rosary Bracelets
An abbreviated form of the rosary consisting of 10 Ave Maria beads one Pater Noster bead, a crucifix and in some cases a miraculous medal. This rosary, made in bracelet form, keeps the rosary near at hand.

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Single Decade Rosary
An abbreviated form on the rosary consisting of one decade that is prayer five times in succession, one for each mystery of the day.

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St. Peregrine Chaplet
The chaplet of St. Peregrine is a standard nine bead chaplet with a medal of St Peregrine and three groups of three beads. St. Peregrine was widely known for his preaching, penances, and counsel in the confessional. He was cured of cancer, after he received a vision of Christ on the cross reaching out His hand to touch his impaired limb. He died in 1345 and was canonized in 1726. He is the patron of cancer patients.

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Strawberry Quartz
8mm facet glass produced by combining coloring agent to produce cloudy and swirled inclusions. Also known as Cherry quartz.

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Sterling Silver Bead
6mm, 5mm, 4mm or 2mm round bead made of a silver alloy in which pure silver makes up at least 92.5% of the content.

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Swarovski Aurora Borealis Crystal Bead
5mm biconal or 6mm round Swarovski bead with a very thin layer of metallic atoms deposited on the lower surface of the stone. The resulting iridescent surface is breathtaking.

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Turquoise
A non-translucent, porous semi-precious stone first found in Turkey, hence its name. It is a blue to gray green mineral consisting of copper aluminum phosphate.

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Vermeil
22k gold over sterling silver with a nickel barrier between the gold and sterling.

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Yellow Jasper Bead
8mm or 6mm opaque cryptocrystalline quartz bead. goethite gives the bead a beautiful yellow color.

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