Pogon

The pogon is a string of elongated, bar-shaped beads: the grain is not round but lengthened, tapering slightly toward the ends. The name is said to come from the bead's resemblance to a pogon — the narrow, oblong shoulder board of a uniform; makers tell the exact origin of the term in different ways, so it is more honest to say the shape is called this for its recognisable bar-like outline. The elongated bead changes the whole mechanics of rolling: it sits longer in the finger than a round one, so the step along the cord is larger and the movement more solid and unhurried. The pogon is worked with confident, sweeping motions; the grains flip over the hand with weight and good momentum. The sound is deep and full, with a longer tumble owing to the stretched form. The model's signature is its solidity and tangible mass in the hand: a pogon feels larger and more serious than the classic at the same bead count. The form shows best on warm, dense materials that are pleasant to hold edge or face — mammoth ivory, aged wood, horn and amber — where the elongated grain underscores the material's figure along its full length.