I shall call her... FrankenRosary....

I kept everybody in suspense and didn't even mean to!

This rosary is actually made from 3 different rosaries, hence the name "Frankenrosary".

When Elwing first started finding rosaries at street markets, she didn't know about decades and Hail Mary's and Our Fathers, so some of her first rosaries were absolutely gorgeous, but sadly, incomplete. I saved these in hopes that one day, their parts would come in use. One in particular had a set of fantastic brass integrated medals. It also had this terrific ebony and metal crucifix - like the kind you see on plastic rosaries all the time with the medal backing bent over the arms of the cross. This one was made right though and it looked great. The crucifix went to a rosary with perfect silver capped bohemian glass beads and a plastic (?) crucifix that simply wouldn't do.

Later she found an amazing 4.5 inch brass Pectoral crucifix that was attached to an amusingly tiny ebony rosary with rather bland hardware.

I saw my chance. Taking apart both the complete ebony rosary and the incomplete rosary, I replaced the bland hardware with the brass hardware and medals. Then I polished up the ebony beads and I had something pretty cool. I grabbed a center medal off another broken rosary that fit in with the mixed brass and silver look of the integrated medals. Then I took a loose filigree crucifix from France that Elwing had sent me to price as a loose item and added it to make a completed rosary.

Once complete I added medals and gave it another cleaning whereupon I discovered that the discolored centermedal was marked "argent" and is actually 800 purity silver. Well, what do you know...

This is what rosary restoration is all about.

-e