Signet Rings

Once considered a gentlemens item of jewellery and a mark of nobility and status, the signet ring was once as reliable as a signature, in a world were illiteracy was high a signet ring became a mans writing tool.

Today through times have changed and this traditional item of jewellery adorns the fingers of both men and women of all ages. The signet ring although simple in design can be personalised and detailed from your initials to traditional seal engraving, this ring can become a family heirloom for generations to come.

Here we talk about a few of the signet rings we have crafted for some of our recent customers:

This ring was created as a gift for a young lady’s birthday. The quartered shield was created from two family crests that had been designed by the family, they chose to have a reverse seal engraving cut in to the head of the ring which would result in a wax impression of the crest. As this was the first ring to be created for the family there was no original ring to work from so the engraver was provided with a drawing of the original design. The ring itself was chosen from a selection of ladies’ signets that would be thick enough to support such a deep and detailed engraving but still small enough to suit the young lady’s elegant hands.
Upon choosing the correct size for the oval signet ring it was crafted in 9ct yellow gold and then sent to our hand engravers along with the crest design. The engraving took a few weeks but the final result was a beautifully heavy, yet elegant oval signet ring with a fabulously detailed crest, reverse seal engraved to the head.
The intention of this was to have a family heirloom, something that could eventually be passed on down the generations and treasured along the way. We hear that the young lady was absolutely thrilled with her ring and almost never takes it off.

This was another signet that was created as a gift for a young man. The original family crest did exist in the form a wax pull taken from an existing ring many years earlier. Using this as a guide, the shape of the signet was determined. The young man preferred something lighter and less obtrusive and so chose a rounder head for his signet ring. This suited the shape of the family crest well and gave the young man the desired look that he wanted. We also decided that it would be best to scallop the shoulders of the signet to give it a softer less heavy look that would be more suited to the gentleman’s taste. This family also chose to go for a reverse seal engraving so that they could create their own wax impressions from the ring. Once the ring design was chosen it and the existing crest were sent to the hand engraver to create the desired look.
The ring arrived back in time for the young man to take it back to university with him where he needed the odd reminder to take it off during football games. It looks great on his finger and he couldn’t be happier with the final look of the ring as it was just right for him.

This ring was created for a customer who had lost her very precious signet ring and was looking for a replacement. She still had the original wax pull from her first ring, a beautiful swallow about to take off. She had decided that she would be happy to have a slightly different style of engraving for her signet ring. She chose a ‘deep for show’ engraving which is a copy of the crest but not in reversed form. As with the other rings the plain signet ring was sent with the original pressing of her crest and from this the engraver was able to hand cut the engraving to the head.
Once she was informed that the ring was ready, she came in as soon as she could. Upon being given her ring she had to hold back a few tears as she was so happy to have her ring back where it belonged.

If you would like to view our signet ring selection and discuss getting one made and engraved or if you have a signet ring and would like to have it seal engraved then please come in and speak to one of the team at Lewes or Uckfield or contact us HERE.