Podushka Chetki

Aroundsquare’s Pozvonok Chetki are their take on the classic perekidnye chetki or flipping beads (перекидные четки) otherwise known as “Russian prison beads”.

With a much more traditional look and feel than the other models, and while they are not as nimble as more contemporary designs, they pay homage to the roots and will give players a chance to appreciate the features that have made chetki a daily companion for so many across Eastern Europe over the years. 

This design, in fact, was purpose built for a handmade manufacturing process. Most of their products are produced by precision CNC machining, with the results being highly uniform. For this project, they wanted to return to a more manual approach that would both honour the traditional roots of the craft, while at the same time highlighting the organic beauty of the natural materials being used. The results are beautiful, and the slight differences in the individual beads fits very nicely with the natural grain and feel of the material. 

The beads themselves are generously rounded for easy movement and high comfort during play, including bead counting. In addition, they've sized up the thickness of the lengthy end beads a little bit in order to give them a bit more heft, and a bit more "catch" on the fingers, in order to keep them anchored in the hand during play. And of course, with longevity and easy maintenance in mind, they're strung these up on our 1.2mm kevlar cord.

Please note the natural material beads in this series are hand-shaped, rather than precision CNC machined like most of AO2 products. They chose this production method purposefully, as it fits so well with the natural variations of these materials. The result is that each bead is slightly unique, and there will be small variations in shape and size, rounding, finishing, and of course internal variations in the material itself. 

SIZE 12MM
MATERIAL WOOD
ORIGIN CANADA

AROUNDSQUARE

Based in Vancouver, Canada, Aroundsquare is a social enterprise. Unlike regular businesses which only seek profit, ao2 uses a model that generates profit in addition to furthering social, environmental, and human development goals.