The Spanish enjoyed a long and profitable trade with the citizens of Galway Bay. Devoutly Catholic, the Spanish Armada travelled the known world acquiring artifacts from every culture known at the time. Not widely known, there is an area of Spain that is Celtic in heritage, thus the Spanish sailors shared more than goods with their trading partners to the north.

Our version of the rosaries the Spanish brought with them on their voyages is at right. The Spanish were masters of metalsmithy, silver and gold being their favored media. This rosary bears a center piece, Pater Noster beads, and spacer beads made from fine silver. Links and cross are
sterling silver.

What is the difference between fine silver and sterling silver?
Sterling silver is a standard alloy that is a mixture of two or more metals designed
to improve the performance of the metal. For instance, sterling silver is an alloy of silver and copper...for every 1000 parts of sterling, 925 are silver and 75 are copper. That is why on the back of most sterling pieces you will see the number "925" stamped there.
Fine silver is pure silver and sometimes marked "999". Fine silver is rarely seen in commercial jewelry and usually used only by custom artisans.

At right, the image of the center piece and cross.

The center piece bears the image of an impression taken directly from a genuine Byzantine coin,
one which the Spanish sailors most likely would have encountered and
used for inspiration. The cross is rendered in the ornate "Spanish" style.