Uns Fine Crafts fills a niche for those Muslims seeking to find some of the most beautiful traditional fine crafts in the world. For those of us in Western countries, Uns seems to be a way to reconnect with the experience of finding that high quality, carefully crafted item in the bazaar out in the middle of the desert. One difference though with this hypothetical bazaar and Uns is that while both may have carefully crafted products, Uns has added the novel concept of using very unique and exotic materials which one would be unlikely to find elsewhere.

In fact, rarity seems to be their speciality, as they are using very exotic hardwoods for the misbaha’s they sell which include the most rarist woods in the world.

I just received the Cocobolo Beads (precisely named: Cocobolo - 10mm Premium Grade misbaha) which are listed on http://www.unsfinecrafts.com/ as “Coming Soon”, so I’ll be writing about this one today. Soon I will be able to review the snakewood misbaha which seems to be the ultimate in rarity and uniquness. A link to their product sheet for this Cocobolo mishaba is here.

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I’m not sure when they will be publicly available (I sort of received these by accident) but I thought I would do my review of this fine product with some detailed pictures.

First thing is first, for some very expensive wood the packaging from Caravan Saray was a bit muted (maybe that is a good thing). A simple yellow packing paper with bubble wrap inside is what the beautiful exotic wood arrives in. So, if you are looking to surprise your significant other with a beautiful expensive misbaha, make sure you have some sort of nice box.

Next is the wood, and from cobobolo.net we discover that:
“Cocobolo is so rare, that very little of it reaches the world market. With respect to the environment, the government of Costa Rica requires that a permit be issued in order to cut down a Cocobolo tree. Most of the cocobolo available today is not cut from the natural rainforest, but rather from privately owned finca’s on which cocobolo trees were planted 80 to 100 years ago. ”

Amazing! On top of that there are a variety of grades of the wood, and while imperfections exist in most woods (ugly knots, insect holes, etc), the beads of a misbaha are so small that if such an imperfection exists in the material it must make it useless for the production of the bead. So it seems we are getting the best of the best here. The wood is one of the most dense as well, and that means that it will be difficult to damage this Uns misbaha, whereas on my previous wood misbahahs nail marks and such are easily noticable. There are some literally tiny marks in some of the beads, which Uns demonstrates on the website, but this only adds to the rustic and traditional nature of these beads.

Cocobolo has deep grains which are generally all horizontally throughout the beads. If presented properly a very long line can be made with the beads. Care seems to have been taken to ensure that there are no beads having a vertical grain next to beads with a horizontal grain.

It is very light brown/ orange in the areas where the grain line is furthest away, and in some places this area reflects light almost translucently, somewhat like marble! I began to wonder if it was wood at all, it is such a marvelous effect that it feels at times you are looking through the beads somewhat. Another way to describe it would be a glowing effect. Each of the beads shine with a bright luster. I have found out directly from Ibrahim, the owner of Uns Fine Crafts that each of these beads is buffed, bead by bead.

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In some places the grain becomes wavy, and these are some of the most beautiful beads in the chain.

There are flat markers at the 11 count on both the left and right side of the chain, afterwards there are only the larger 33 count markers.

The end is marked with a long one-piece of wood, which is a great way to see the grain.

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The end of the misbaha has a 5 small beads, spread apart an inch or so, ending with a larger version of the 33 marker beads.

Lets move onto the details of the line the beads are on as well as its use. The ’string’ (not a good word for it), is brown and somewhat shiny golden when light hits it. The line at the end of the misbaha is much thicker than what the majority of the beads are on. It seems that is a result of intertwining the main string to itself. This creates a type of ‘twirl’ effect which is pleasant.

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There is about an inch of slack in the beads, which is great for its use. There is an interesting choice here that Uns must have had to make. If they were to make it too loose then it might feel flimsy, on the other hand if they make it too hard to move, well then its just useless.

Uns has chosen a nice balance between the two.

The beads in this misbaha are quick to move individually with ones thumb, but they have -very slight- resistance, so it adds up with 99 beads and the markers. This added-up resistance means that the beads do not move as a whole that easily. One of the drawbacks of the level resistance is that with 99 beads, the inch of slack can get distributed when being carried around in your pocket for some time, and then to create the slack at the beginning may require using extra force or the 10 bead at a time method.

These beautiful beads sell for $240 U.S. Dollars, worth every penny!

Final words:

One should keep in mind the rarity of the wood and the care involved in making the beads when ordering from Uns. Reflecting on the fact that you have in your hands one of Allah’s rarist natural treasures on earth is a great motivator for -more- tasbih, especially when you are literally counting your blessings on it.

So in conclusion, this is a very beautiful and unique misbaha, and anyone who appreciates dark wood furniture and dark wood grains will especially love it. The beautiful wood grain and almost marbelized nature of the wood is pretty astounding. There is obvious care taken in the crafting of the misbaha.

I hope this review is helpful for those looking to purchase one of Uns Fine Crafts goods! You won’t be dissappointed.