Rings

[brightlotusmoon]

I have this deep fascination with rings. When I’m on the train, I love looking at the hands of people around me, at the rings on their fingers. More than any other piece of jewelry, rings tell a story to me. I look at a stranger’s hands and wonder, Who gave her that ring? Did she buy it herself? Why is it on that finger? Why that stone? Why that pattern?
I love seeing engagement rings set with stones other than diamonds; I love thinking about the stories behind them. I love heirloom rings, especially heirloom rings that have been reset as they have a brand new story to add to a history. My own engagement ring is a reset heirloom. There is a story behind it.
I adore wedding rings that are not the traditional simple gold band. Celtic knots, intricate patterns, eternity bands, stones, various metals. My own wedding ring is made from electrum and features a Celtic figure-eight eternity knot flanked by triquetra knots. There is a story behind it.

Would you mind sharing the stories of your rings? Pictures, too, if you have photos? It doesn’t matter what kind of ring. Engagement, wedding, personal, gift, bought just because it was pretty. Any rings you have and love and feel there is a story behind.

Comments

[briar-witch.livejournal.com]

I have two rings that are very special to me. The first is my engagement ring. It's an emerald, because that is what I requested when my husband (at the time soon-to-be fiance) asked me what kind of stone I wanted in my engagement ring. I convinced myself he wasn't really asking in order to look for a ring, I didn't dare get my hopes up. Yet ask he did, and I teared right up. We were in a pizza place when he asked me, and apparently the waitress was coming up behind me when she saw him take out the box and lean forward towards me, so she turned right around and left us alone for abit. I'm pretty sure, if I remember right, that we gave her a very good tip that night. :)

The second ring is my wedding ring. It was an heirloom in my husband's family, as it belonged to his great grandmother. It had been handed down to her from somebody else, and has someone else's initials on it. I treasure it, and view it as a piece of his family history that I am honored to wear.

Because the wedding ring is a little too large for my hand, I used to wear my engagement ring in front of it (I had done some research on the proper etiquette of this, and it turns out it is traditional), in order to keep the wedding band from sliding off my hand (it did this three times--I was lucky enough to catch it as it flew off twice, and a third time I was frantically looking for it out in the garden before I found it). The stone in my engagement ring got chipped however, so I finally stopped wearing them. Warclaw got me an alternate wedding ring, so I wear that on a day to day basis instead. However sometimes, on special occasions, I take out my "real" wedding ring and engagement ring, and put them on.

I have other rings, but these are the two that are truly special to me.

[xgirasolx.livejournal.com]

The only ring I wear right now is a sterling silver filigree band that I got at the Green Dragon flea market in PA. The story goes that it was a promise ring from a soldier to his sweetheart. I got it when I was visiting my cousin and it represents love and promises to me.

[the-onion-girl.livejournal.com]

I have a few rings, generally I don't wear much jewelry. I have a moonstone ring that a friend gave to me recently. I also have a rose signet ring that is part of a set that we gave to our friends as a wedding gift. I've small fingers, so I've not been wearing it much.

[silkfetus.livejournal.com]

I often buy rings because I really like stones and want to have them on me, but then I never wear them because I am allergic to all metals other than gold and have difficulty gardening, cooking, etc. while wearing them. But my favorites are amber and turquoise.

Rings on her fingers & bells on her toes...

[saighin.livejournal.com]

Well, I wear a lot of rings, and they all have a story, so where do I start?
Maybe with the most important to me:

1) Beca's "Heart Stone"...when I first got sober, Beca gave me a lovely, simple garnet & silver ring, that she called her heart ring, as garnet is a stone that is a part of her, her fire & passion...the ring itself was split, but even that had meaning to us with having lost my mother in the past, and my trying to recover from addiction, a feeling that the world had been little broken...when I had the silver fixed, it was like things being made whole...I carry it with me always ever since...

2) My Amber...while visiting one of my best friends when he moved away, was wandering around an esoterica shop...Rusty found me the ring, saying there was something about its energy that made him think of me...Lex saw the energy & beauty in its flaws, and we're usually on the same/similar wavelength in regards to the spiritual...and I couldn't put it down, it warmed to my touch...I wear it whenever I'm missing Rusty, or on days like today when I'm worried for him...

3) My 1st Moonstone...this is a strange one...it appeared in my room one day, literally, when I was going through a hard time...every person who had been through the house in the past month was asked if they had lost it, and it was eventually decided that it must have been meant to find me...moonstone is my "power stone"...

4) My Onyx...the only thing I have left that my father gave me...I keep it because it's from the only brief period in my life where my father & I were remotely close (the 2 years he was sober at the very beginning of my teens), and because Onyx calms me & helps relieve pain...

5) My Coital Ring...when I lost my virginity, I was given by a friend a ring of 2 lovers embracing...it represented - for me - intimacy and beauty & passion, and it keeps me connected with my own sensuality...the original ring finally snapped, and I recently replaced it, when after a long period of celibacy, I became active again...

6) My 2nd Moonstone...for me, this one is a wedding ring of sorts...it's a small stone set in a crescent moon, that could also be interpreted as horns...to me it represents the marriage between Lunar Femininity & the Horned God...and my lifelong commitment to them both...

7) My "Sobriety" Ring...a thick band, set with 4 small teardrop stones (moonstone, natural opal, aquamarine & amethyst)...the moonstone represents me, the aquamarine & opal represent two of my "tribe" who have always encouraged me and reminded me that I have the strength to do what is true & best for me - including my choice to live sober, and Amethyst which is the "sobriety" stone...I wear it when I need to focus on my sobriety and living a more peaceful life...

8) My "Big" Ring...another large band...the centerpiece is a large cabochon of rose-quartz, surrounded by small cabochon of garnet, moonstone & opal...again, these stones represent my "Tribe/Packmates" and I feel them with me when I wear it...

9) My "Mom" Ring...probably my simplest ring, my newest addition, a simple rounded silver filigree...I bought it because all of the money went directly to breast cancer research...I wear it to think of my mother...

***
Sorry I spoke up now? ;-P
Heh...can't wait until you ask about pendants ;-)

Re: Rings on her fingers & bells on her toes...

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

Not sorry at all. *grin* This is precisely what I wanted to get in a reply.
Ooh, pendants, there's a thought...

[sidheblessed.livejournal.com]

I have three rings that mean a lot to me:

1. 18th birthday ring. This is just a simple silver and amethyst ring that my mum bought me for me 18th birthday. She took me shopping for it after work and I wore it everyday thereafter. I stopped wearing it because my fingers grew too thin after losing weight. The band is too thin to resize so now it sits in my jewellery box to be taken out regularly to be admired. I don't even know what it is about that ring - just the right energy I suppose.

2. My engagement ring. I wanted a claddagh engagement ring with a stone for the heart. We only found like it in stores and it was really tacky, looked like ti was made on the cheap. We ended up getting a ring designed and made by a jewller. I remember the first day I saw it finsihed, I thought it was the most beautiful ring I'd ever seen. For reference, the stone is an almost black blue sapphire, the crown is made of tiny diamonds (suggested by jewller) and the band is white gold. Yes, I still think it is the most beautiful ring I've ever seen.

3. My wedding ring. This was only the second wedding band I tried on but it complemented my engagement ring so perfectly I knew it was the one. It's a white gold band with a row of tiny diamonds. The band has a curve to it that "hugs" the claddagh. They look almost like a set!

[cynicalbeauty.livejournal.com]

I wear two rings. The first is a ring my father gave me when I was 14. Its a little silver ring with a pattern on x's in it. He says that he got it when he was living in flordia from a friend he called turtle who died of a brain tumor or something. He used to wear in on his pinky. One day he gave it to me. I think its because I was so sad that year. He never told me why. I wear it on my thumb. Twice it has fallen off in public and twice it has found its way back to me. I love this ring.

The other Tom just gave me for Christmas. Its a promise ring of sorts and the stone is an Alexanderite, but not the light pink stone this stone changes from various shade of purple, green and blue and any possible mix of those colors. Its my favorite stone. Its simple and small and I think it is the most beautiful ring ever, even though it wasn't expensive and it isnt as flashy as most girls like, but Tommy picked it out.

[emmapoe.livejournal.com]

Great post! I agree!

I have a moonstone that I bought for the connotations in the stone.

I wear a simple wire ring that I got at a gem and mineral show. It looks celtic and I am Irish on both sides, 2nd generation American, but I am also a person who has been drawn to spirals my entire life.

Here is my black pearl engagement ring. I have a silver wedding band and interestingly enough my husband and I secretly had the same thing carved into each other's bands..

(http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k36/yi_nian/?action=view&current=100_5810.jpg)

I also took a metal smithing class last semester. I made a silver ring for my brother and this brass ring for my husband:

(http://s145.photobucket.com/albums/r214/violent-shrinking/?action=view&current=100_8967.jpg)

(I hope it's okay I put images in your journal. If not I will delete this)

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

No, it's wonderful that you put images! I edited my post to ask for photos from commenters now!

[natalief.livejournal.com]

I'd love to see pictures of your rings, too! ;-p

Click through for larger pictures:

"An LJFriend asked to see pictures of the rings we wear. I usually wear these on a chain around my neck with my SOS Talisman but I will wear them on my hand again as soon as my fingers become slim enough again for them to be comfortable! They are my engagement ring (gold with a garnet and Celtic knotwork) and my wedding ring (simple fine gold band chosen so that I can wear it together with my engagement ring). I also have a haematite ring that I wear on my thumb, or will do once I lose the weight again!"

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

Holy crap, that engagement ring is stunning. Wow.

Pictures, pictures! I can't take a good picture of my rings with my cell phone and the digital camera is with my husband, but these are what I could do for now.

http://pics.livejournal.com/rosefox8/pic/0002y9x6/g64
This is the engagement ring. It's completely unique and custom-made. Adam's mom gave him a family heirloom ring that had 32 blue-white diamonds set in platinum, but it was much too big for my hand. So we took the ring to my mom's jeweler friend. He took the big diamond and six smaller diamonds and put them in a rose gold band. The large stone is in a white gold bezel setting, and on either side are three smaller stones separated by rose gold pave patterns. I wear the ring on my right hand because...
http://pics.livejournal.com/rosefox8/pic/0002zqkp/g64
This is the wedding ring. Adam originally found silver versions and bought them as promise rings, but after we got engaged (he used my silver one for his original proposal; he proposed three times), he asked his jeweler uncle to remake the rings in electrum green gold. It's a Celtic eternity knot in a sort of figure eight or flower pattern, with a trinity knot on either side. That slim yellow gold band on my other finger is my grandmother's wedding ring, given to me by my mother.

[natalief.livejournal.com]

Beautiful rings and stories! Thank you!

[amirah915.livejournal.com]

I wanted to write about this ring because I seem to have misplaced it. Perhaps writing about it will help me find it again someday.

It's a huge hot pink topaz, much like the color of emmakawaii's hair. Princess cut and framed by diamonds, it's mounted on a thick sterling silver band. I usually don't go for big flashy jewels, but this is my bling-bling ring for when I feel like showing off. I call it my knuckle-buckler.