Every ring has a centrepiece element, whether that is the biggest stone in an engagement, the central design of a band or the intricate carvings of a signet ring, and most designers opt for a philosophy of “less is more” when it comes to a ring’s design.
The more flourishes you add to a piece, so the logic goes, the less each element will be highlighted. However, is that necessarily true?
If you have a bespoke ring with a large central sapphire set into a band with tiny shimmering diamonds set into it, far from detracting from the beauty of the deep blue stone at the centre, the diamonds complement and maximise the look.
With signet rings, a type of ring that is inherently devoted to personal and family history, it can be difficult but far from impossible to incorporate gemstones into the design, although it will often require an expert jeweller to make a bespoke piece with that in mind.
Adding gemstones often takes one of three general routes, all three of which we can work with your ideas and designs in order to craft the perfect piece to suit your needs:
You can:
-
Add gemstones to the band of a signet ring to accentuate its style or add prestige.
-
Make the surface of the signet ring a gemstone to create a unique, elaborate design.
-
Add gemstones to the surface to create an artistic flourish.
Here is how all three routes work in practice and some top tips for maximising their effect.
Can You Add Gemstones To The Band Of A Signet Ring?
Probably the simplest way to add gemstones to a signet ring is to incorporate them into parts of the ring that are away from the surface. As you need to dedicate the face of the ring to the seal itself, gemstones tend to be off-limits or at least more difficult to implement into certain types of designs.
After all, if you are going to place the ring into hot wax, the worst case scenario is to cover a beautiful, precious stone in wax at the same time.
There is a strong historical precedent for adding elaborate flourishes to a signet ring; Victorian-era signet rings tended to be worn as a keyfob rather than on the finger, and as a result would often be sprinkled with jewels and complex metalwork to emphasise their importance.
Can You Carve A Signet Into A Gemstone?
Alternatively, if you want a unique design for your signet ring that will inevitably catch the eyes of people who see it on your little finger, you can typically carve a signet into a flat gemstone surface, which leads to a very different-looking signet ring.
The Ancient Roman tradition of intaglio was as popular a tradition for signet rings as a flat golden surface. Whilst some intaglio rings were very similar to signet rings aside from the gemstone surface, others were particularly elaborate and increasingly became collectors' items.
Modern examples tend to more closely resemble metal signet rings aside from the colour, but there is a remarkable level of scope for intricate designs, bespoke shapes and setting gems into the band.
Can You Set Gems Into The Signet Surface Itself?
If you want to practically use the signet ring for wax seals, then you cannot set gems into the
surface. However, an increasingly popular recent trend is to integrate contemporary flourishes of colour through playful gemstone choices into the traditional flat surface of a signet ring.
What makes this work so well is the ability to explore the use of negative space and asymmetry using the larger surface of a signet ring as a canvas.
Unlike most rings, which are typically shaped around their gemstones and are the reason why we place a lot of importance on choosing your own stones to set into a bespoke ring, a signet ring has a wider, larger surface area than the overwhelming majority of stones you would set into it.
Whilst you can insert a gemstone into the centre and work from there, it also gives you the option to try more unique patterns and combine very different types of gemstones that would otherwise simply not fit together on a ring.
You can make signet rings that are asymmetrical, that have considerable amounts of negative space or use carved patterns to connect the very different stones as you so choose.
With bespoke jewellery design, there is a world of possibilities, and you can opt for a truly personal custom piece that nobody else has.