Figure: 15 titanium beads on a rope
Carbon footprint: ~6kg of CO2
60 grams total
Let your mind wander,
your fingers wonder
Call it mala, worry beads, bracelet, balls, functional jewelry, good luck charm or even a fidget toy. It is with you on your wrist, in your pocket, on your desk, keychain, hanging from your rearview mirror, your bike saddle... it is there, with you.
Limited edition • $100 • One size
Satisfyingly heavy at 4g per bead
threaded on a 2mm rope for hand manipulation
Tumbled finish – made to last, not to shine
It's the things we do that shape our lives. With constant connection but no real attachment, it's easy to be scattered, pulled in a million directions. Rituals are a way to hit pause, to create moments where we can truly appreciate the present.
Some rituals can be complex, requiring specific beliefs, fancy tools, or a big chunk of time. They don't have to be. Most contemplative traditions and practices suggest some kind of fixation. Manipulating a few metal beads on a rope is a tried and true – simple one.
Countless shops out there offers so much stuff, yet so little purpose. Ironically, this is yet another thing you can buy online. This is our modest attempt at sharing what worked for us in its simplest and most durable form.
You may still wonder what’s the point of this? It may sound lofty, cheesy or phony but it’s merely to make you feel something. Most products aim at getting out of the way, be seamless and efficient - that’s the opposite of our goal here.
Let your mind wander, your fingers wonder.
Beads
Commercially pure Titanium Grade 2
Resistant to oxidizing and corrosion
Hypoallergenic
Forged in Yamaguchi, JP
Machined in San Luis Obispo, CA
No care needed
12mm with 2.8mm apex
Rope
2mm Dyneema (UHMW) fibers
200+ lbs tensile strength
Black – will fade and smoothen
Sliding and stopper knots for adjustment
Extra 2ft included
No branding - No hardware
Second Edition
Update only • Next: january 2025
FAQs
Do I need this?
The short answer is no. The longer - it depends. For most things around the topic of quality in its holistic sense, you have to be open to it. That process is intuition-based. Contrary to what you may assume about intuition, it takes time and is not intuitive at first. You have to make room for it. There is no pragmatic reason why you should use this type of object.
Why titanium?
The decisive characteristic was weight. It weighs just enough to feel good in-hands but not make your pants fall down when in your pocket. Steel would be double the weight - we tried and didn't like it as much. It Aluminum comes closer but it scratches easily and is almost just as complicated to forge and machine. Titanium will last forever and is low maintenance.
Why only 15 beads?
This is not a bracelet. 15 beads are optimized for a good weight and feel in hands. When manipulating we never felt like it was missing additional beads. We tried 10, similar to classic counting bracelets, the large beads felt awkward when worn on the wrist.
What if I don’t like the sliding knot?
Then it may be a deal breaker, except if you want to make another knot or use custom hardware of your choice. The rope comes fairly long so you can do these kinds of adjustments
Why is it so expensive?
Titanium is a relatively expensive metal and time is a precious commodity. Drilling turned out to be quite tricky and pricey due to the need to stabilize the beads at high temperatures and velocity with cobalt drills. We didn't try to make it cheaper by scaling because of the nature of the project.
Why don't you have reviews?ds?
This is not meant to be a scaling business showing value and doing the whole marketing social proof thing. We did not want to burden the people who bought our first edition with a review request. We may regret it, be it, it felt right. There is very little to say about the "product" itself anyway. It's literally just a rope and 15 beads. We received 2 friendly emails back saying that the beads looked more "scratched" than they anticipated.
Is that a post or counter tech thing?
This is not meant to antagonize tech. The modern world calls for modern, sophisticated tools. Our civilization continues to rely on all sorts of tools. Our product are offering a way to fill a gap between our analog body and abstracted digital tools. However, we believe the world would be better with less of the consumer tech that buzzes around us today. We are advocating a low-tech approach.
How did you calculate your carbon footprint?
Here is the breakdown per unit. Please consider that these are theoretical rounded up values.
+ Beads: ~2.1 kg of CO2 (Using an average of 35 kg CO2 per kg for virgin titanium)
+ Forging: ~0.005 kg (or 5 grams) of CO2 for 30min (average production time per unit) of shop tool and forge use in a nuclear-powered grid.
+ Machining: 0 - solar powered
+ Rope: ~3.5 kg of CO2 (Using an average UHMWPE (Dyneema) is about 6-8 kg of CO2 per kilogram of material)
+ Shipping: ~400g of CO2 ( 500 grams per metric ton per kilometer of transportation)
Total = ~6kg of CO2