What is a signet ring?
A signet ring is a ring with a flat face, engraved with a crest, initials or a symbol. For most of its history it was a working tool: pressed into wax or clay, it sealed a letter and proved who had sent it.
It is the most enduring style of ring the world has known. Across cultures and centuries it has carried purpose, status, belief and sentiment, from the seals of Mesopotamia to the hand that wears one today.
Carnelian cylinder seal, Mesopotamia, 20th to 19th century BC
The story behind the signet ring
Before signatures, there were seals. In Mesopotamia, carved cylinders were rolled across wet clay to mark ownership and authority. Ancient Egypt reimagined the seal as something that could be worn, and the signet ring was born.
Governments, highborn families, clergy and monarchies all needed a way to verify official documents and letters. From pharaohs to Roman emperors, from bishops to the kings of Europe, the signet ring protected the word of powerful people and made their will clear in clay or wax.
A Mesopotamian cylinder seal, mounted to be worn
The materials changed with the ages, from iron to bronze to gold. Precious metal brought gemstones and enamel, and later, mourning rings set with locks of hair. Over time the signet loosened its grip on the class system. It stopped being proof of rank and became proof of self.
Georgian signets, late 18th to early 19th century. Yellow gold, enamel, quartz and hair.
Signet rings with stones
Intaglios were a favoured feature, particularly in Roman times: a design carved into a gemstone such as carnelian, bloodstone, garnet, onyx, jasper or amethyst, so the stone itself could be pressed into wax.
Our stone signets come from that lineage. Onyx, carnelian and bloodstone, set flat and left to speak, in a form kept deliberately spare.
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Etruscan and Roman rings, 450 to 300 BC
How to wear a signet ring
Traditionally on the little finger of the non-dominant hand, out of the way of the writing hand and ready to seal. In Britain it became the gentleman's ring. Today there is no rule. Men and women wear them, alone or stacked, on whichever finger feels right.
What to engrave on a signet ring
A family crest, initials, a date, a symbol that means something only to you. A seal is cut in reverse, deep enough to read correctly once pressed into wax. A decorative engraving reads the right way on the ring itself. Some faces are best left blank, waiting.
Our Signature and Dual signets include engraving, in Century Script or Old English. We also cut seals in reverse, for those who still want to leave a mark in wax.
Silver or gold
Recycled 925 sterling silver darkens slowly and takes on the marks of the hand that wears it. Solid 9kt gold, never plated, holds its colour and can be resized, repolished and passed on. Both are made by hand in our Sydney studio, where we have been making signet rings since 2016.
