The One that Always Gets Away

I've come across this brown faceted glass rosary several times and I really love the way it looks. Once again you can see it has all the stuff I like, ornate spacer links instead of chains, an extra link between each Ave bead, and a beautiful matched center medal and crucifix. The beads are quite long but very slender giving this rosary a very streamlined appearance, which is the main reason why I never seem to stomach the high prices it seems to attract from bidders. If I'm going to pay $90 - $120 for a rosary it should at least be comfortable to pray on and I've found that rosaries with skinny beads like this just aren't.

There's not much else to say about it unless you view it close up. This close up view lets you see the intricacy of the center medal as well as the links. They are both quite beautiful. The hallmarking on the crucifix is quite elaborate. There's the maker's mark at the top of the crucifix and then a second mark at the bottom which says "design" and has a number. I'm not sure it that's meant to be a serial number or perhaps denotes some kind of limited edition. The purity of the silver is not indicated.

Observe also the "nails" sticking out of the back of the crucifix. This is common to many crucifixes and it should be noted that in this case (and in the case of most fancy sterling silver crucifixes) these nails are not sticking through from the front, they have been delibrately placed. Because of the importance placed on the crucifixtion and on the wounds of the crucified Christ, rosary makers almost always show that the nails have been driven all the way through by placing false nails on the back side of the crucifix that match up with the nail heads on the front side.