Choosing to have a bespoke signet ring cut is a very special experience for so many people, as it is about literally and figuratively forging a legacy that will be passed down through generations.
Whilst this is true of all bespoke jewellery up to a point, given the price of the materials and the artisan skill involved with bringing such a piece to life, signet rings have a particular allure focused on their reputation as not only beautiful pieces of art and heirlooms but functional seals of authority.
To understand why, it is important to look into their history and how it shapes not only the designs of the rings themselves but also their allure to this very day.
Signet Of Authority
Carving seals as a symbol of authority or identity has existed for at least 8000 years but likely far earlier, with early civilisations using seals to imprint into clay a symbol of a person, society or royal house.
Whilst initially taking the form of stone stamps, scarabs and later cylinders, they would start to appear in ring form in Ancient Greece.
They were initially known as intaglio and typically took the form of engravings into precious stones that would create a relief imprint when pressed into wax.
Unlike later signet rings that would typically use precious metals as the base for engraving, intaglio were typically carved into precious stones, as they would work best when used to imprint wet clay and later sealing wax, although Pliny the Elder notes that this is not always the case.
This could be used to create an ornate relief or seal of approval that could verify the legitimacy and authority of a message, which was often vital since these messages would include safe passage for envoys, letters between heads of state, and military commands.
One Roman example found in 2023 according to the BBC featured the goddess Victoria, the Roman analogue to the Greek goddess of victory Nike, but others have featured animals, other mythological figures or the profile of particular rulers.
The Birth Of Collecting
What makes them so remarkable is that many surviving signet rings are not especially large yet pack a lot of detail onto such a tiny surface that is not necessarily easy to work with, particularly since this art form is designed to create an image that is precisely replicated to avoid counterfeiting.
One rather remarkable shift that parallels the rise in surface cut engraving in contemporary signet rings is a shift from the intaglio counter-relief style designed to be used with sealing wax to a more conventional relief style.
In other words, there was a shift around the fifth century BC in Greece from signet rings that were designed to be used to ones that were designed to be looked at, displayed, worn and even collected.
This led to the development of the ‘dactyliotheca’, a box used to store and collect rings, often themed around collections.
According to historian Pliny The Elder, Mithridates VI of Pontus was the first major collector of signet rings, which sparked a minor craze in ring collection among the ruling class of what was then the Roman Republic.
If owning or possessing a signet ring is a symbol of power, the irony was that Mithridates’ collection ended up being looted by Pompey the Great, who would later donate it to the Temple of Jupiter. His own signet ring ended up in the hands of Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, the first collector of rings in Ancient Rome.
The emperor Julius Caesar was a notable collector of signet rings, initially out of a desire to compete with Pompey in all aspects of life and culture.
Surviving The Fall
When Rome fell, a lot of traditions fell with it that would only be revived centuries later with the Renaissance of the 14th century.
However, one of the few unusual exceptions to this was the signet ring, which is one of the rare examples of any piece of jewellery having a direct lineage to classical antiquity without significant changes to its form or function.
The main reason for this is that whilst a lot of technological and cultural advances were directly linked to the Roman Empire and thus were lost by the decay and fall of Rome, the use of seals and signet rings is remarkably universal.
Seal rings continue to be used to this day both for traditional and ceremonial purposes and even for practical authentication in many countries in Eastern Europe and East Asia. Seals are often used when a signature is not enough, such as for legal authentication.