Wrist Malas

A wrist mala is a short strand — enough beads to sit on the wrist and be turned with a thumb, not enough to count a full round on. It is the piece you leave on.

Eight woods

This is the widest range of timber in the shop. What separates them is weight and scent more than color.

• Sandalwood is light and keeps a soft scent that returns when the beads warm.
• Rosewood is denser and darker, and holds its shape for years.
• Cypress is pale and dry, with a grain that reads like fine stripes.
• Agarwood is the heaviest of the group, and the one with the deepest scent.
• Jujube and chicken-wing wood are both warm brown, and both show a strong grain without being cut for it.

Tassels and ends

Two pieces here end in a tassel rather than a guru bead — one gold, one lotus-shaped. A tassel adds length rather than weight, so the strand still sits flat on the wrist.

Choosing

Pick by weight first. A dense wood like rosewood or agarwood sits still on the arm; the lighter woods move with it. If the scent is what you want, sandalwood and agarwood are the two ends of that scale.

The full-length malas use the same timbers at 108 beads.