Rosaries Often made of silver, or gold exceptionally, as well as garnets, mother-of-pearl, coral, wood and glass pastes. In Sardinia, moreover, rosary crowns, also because they were often worn as necklaces or held by hand, like an accessory to the traditional attire, had such an aesthetic importance that they could be indeed regarded as part of the traditional sets of jewels. Rosaries of various types can be found, in particular of the Dominicani type, but essentially of two kinds of compositional structures. One, simpler and more ancient, is characterized by beads threaded in a twine; the other, more complex, features its element threaded by metal wires and S-shaped dividers. The first kind includes the rosarios de terra santa, mostly made of mother of pearl, usually embellished with a cross or a medal at its ends, created with the same import materials. This extensive use of mother of pearl does not appear to be accidental, since shells guarding the pearls, symbols of Christ, are regarded as symbols of the Virgin Mary; similarly, coral stands as a sign of the dual nature of Jesus and of his passion. The other category includes incatenate, that is, decorated crowns, mostly with paternosters button-shaped beads, or even granulated filigree, alternating similar but smaller aves or consisting of coloured materials, their beads being separated by star-shaped or ribbon-shaped elements. They often featured cross pendants, or small cases called patenas, which included the icons of the Saints, carved on mother of pearl or printed on paper, coloured tissue, or lamina impressions of ancient medals. Patens usually featured frames organized in a radial lily pattern, patena a lillus, or with curved baroque-style leaves (patena a crox 'e nuxedda). The most complex rosaries bear three patens or a central cross flanked by its patens, connected with a ribbon and/or a star-shaped figure, made of the same metal. The ribbon is mounted on wedding rosaries or engagement gifts.
 
Agnus dei and reliquaries
The merging sacred and secular elements are typical not only of non-religious jewellery, but also of reliquaries called nudeus, and agnus dei, which have an apotropaic value. They are silver foil cases that can be opened on one side, mostly enriched with various filigree inserts. The most common shapes are rounded, oval or heart-shaped; they store different types of materials (small holy pictures, breviary pages, wax, olive leaves etc.) mainly concealed by fragments of many-coloured brocades, protected by transparent slides. These cases were hung to chains used as necklaces or fixed to lengths of interconnected chains, often fitted with T-stops or appropriate circular end rings to stitch or secure them to the pieces of clothing. Also these jewels are clearly inspired by religious reliquaries. These religious jewels included, of course, the various crosses crafted by local silversmiths and some silver scapulars with the picture of Our Virgin of Mount Carmel, which were worn as chains or necklaces or sewn to garments, as the holes at their ends seem to suggest.
 
Amulets
 
Therapeutic and defensive qualities have been attached to jewellery since ancient times, mostly to silver artefacts in association with other materials, precious at times, such as rock crystals and coral, but also with those of little commercial value. A group of remarkable variety and spread was the one including amulets designed to protect babies and children from bad luck, certainly due to the high infant mortality rates that scourged the poorer classes in the past. Worth mentioning are the pinnadellu, cocco or the sabegia, a small sphere, mostly made of black glass, but also of coloured glass pastes or floral patterns, cocco frorìu, or coral or other materials, mounted on silver chain suspended hemispherical caps, with more or less complex decorations. This Sardinia amulet recalls the lapis niger of the Romans and several amulets and small devotional objects made of jet coal, a mineral found mostly in Spain, very popular during the Renaissance and among the pilgrims who used to go to Santiago de Compostela. The perda de latti, a charm generally consisting of a milk-coloured glass jar stopper, wrapped in silver, possibly used as a teething ring, was also used for the magical protection of children. A special remedy against jinxes was thought to be the operculum of a sea gastropod, the astraea rugosa, known as oju de Santa Luchia, while head diseases and infertility were dispelled by means to local and imported shells, the cypraee, the shape of which recalled female genitalia. Also widespread were the spurgadentes, traditional jewels often shaped as hearts, deer, horses or fowls, featuring two appendages, one sharp-pointed and one semicircular, crafted following different techniques (casting, laminating, fretwork, filigree) and sometimes embellished with glass pastes and coral mountings. These artefacts were originally intended for teetth and ear cleaning, similar to Roman and Renaissance pieces of jewellery, but regarded as powerful defences against negative forces, especially to protect the bearer against sharp objects. Some spuligadentes, however, feature three or five branches with different types of tips. Being mounted on a pivot pin, they could open up just like some pipe cleaners used by the bourgeoisie in the Nineteenth centuty. In some villages, such as Oliena and Dorgali, the spuligadentes, which sometimes included also a whistle, were usually mounted on a silver chain, either simple or richly structured, and attached to ampullae or small perfume bottles, the nuscheras, made of the same metal, similar to Punic, Muslim or Jewish jewels (which contained spells or sacred chants) but also the odorini (herbs) used by aristocrats since the Renaissance. The dringhilli, are also very peculiar, being fragments of glass vessels mounted on silver structures and mostly associated to bells made of the same material, the sound of which was thought to bring good luck. These last jewels, however, were available in different forms, since they were often the result of accidental events, such as the random discovery of a "strange" object or, for instance, the sudden rupture of a container that had supposedly diverted bad luck from individuals to itself. Finally, among Sardinian traditional amulets, a great importance was attached to the so-called poliamuleti, possibly identified with the gioguittos quoted in the seven-nineteenth century archives. They were silver necklaces, featuring several specimens of the above-mentioned elements, often in odd number, that local tradition reported as lucky charms, powerful against misfortune and illnesses, precisely because it was common belief that the joint use of several amulets and talismans would result in an extension of powers