I have a gold signet ring that I wear on my pinky finger every single day. I got it almost 10 years ago. I was actually inspired by my dad who got a signet ring from his parents (my grandparents) when he was in junior high. My dad still wears the ring to this day.
A signet ring has been historically used as a wax seal stamp. You would stamp the ring into the wax on an envelope and the ring usually had your family's crest on it. Today, it's merely for fashion purposes but there are so many beautiful designs and options out there.
Historically, it has predominantly been worn by men, but present-day it is worn by everyone!
I first got the ring from J.Crew. They used to carry fine jewelry. At the time, they only did laser engraving which is done by a machine and really doesn't cut deep into the metal. You can see the ring when it was almost brand new in the photo above. I also think the lighting in this photo is making the engraving look much deeper than it actually was so keep that in mind.
I wore it on my left-hand pinky up until I got engaged. Then, when I got engaged, I switched it to the right. I didn't love the look of the signet ring right next to my engagement ring and also they would hit off of each other which was really annoying.
When the ring was new, the laser engraving of my initials really popped. But, as years went on, the ring got scratched up (which is very normal as it is 14k gold which will scratch after many years of wear) and the laser engraving no longer popped. You can see another photo above right before I took it into the jewelers to be done. I loathe taking photos of my hands... I can never get a good shot and don't think my hands are all that attractive- they get worse and worse as I age, haha!!
I had wanted to have the ring hand engraved for years but held off because I knew I would want to get my new initials once I was married. Kind of like I never got my Goyard bag monogrammed because I was waiting until I got married but I still have yet to get that done, ha!! One day!
Hand engraving is more beautiful than laser engraved, in my opinion. It's kind of a lost art as many don't even offer it anymore. I went to Urbanowicz in Pittsburgh, PA (Caste Village Shops) if you are local. I definitely recommend them. They are able to hand engrave and have many styles to choose from. They do beautiful work. It's where I take most of my jewelry to be serviced or reset.
So I picked out a style for the monogram. I went with something a little more feminine this time which I really like and I think it looks so beautiful with the deeper engraving.
If you get something re-engraved, they have to take off the top layer, so you are losing a bit of gold. Luckily, it wasn't much for my signet ring since the laser engraving was so shallow.
I just love how it turned out. It kind of feels like I have a new piece of jewelry!
I'm often asked about staple pieces of jewelry and I think that a signet ring would make the top of my list. It's easy/comfortable to wear because there are no stones or prongs. It's also timeless since the silhouette is so simple. The one in the photo above seems like a good option and is almost identical to mine. I. have never seen it in person so I can't fully vouch for it, but it was one of the only ones I could find online that offer hand engraving! So gorgeous!
This was the bracelet. Beautiful floral design but it was the bracelet chain that I didn't like.
While there, I also had a bracelet turned into a necklace. Funny enough, the diamond in the necklace used to be in a ring that my grandparents gave to me. I didn't wear the ring often so I had it turned into the bracelet but I never really loved the chain on the bracelet so I didn't wear that either! I think it looks soooooo much better as a necklace. I had it put on a yellow gold box chain and the findings were done in yellow gold so it would blend in more with all of my yellow gold pieces. I know this will definitely get tons of wear now!
I think this necklace from Diamonds Direct is somewhat similar to the one I am sharing today!
Hope this inspires you all to update some jewelry that you may have sitting in your jewelry box that never gets worn!
1 comment:
I would love to see more close up shots of your wedding set/stacks, details about the rings, and how you mix things up. I know it is personal, but you are such an inspiration and have such a classic style. Many thanks!
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