Signet ring

Jewellery

Symbol of family pride
There is still a tradition in some families of giving son or daughter a signet ring for their eighteenth or twenty-first birthday. But also as a family inheritance the golden signet ring is still very common. The stone in which the weapon is engraved must be a hard type of stone, such as agate (blue layer stone) that has a black underlayer and a blue upper layer. The weapon is engraved in such a way that the bottom layer becomes visible. Family weapons or initials can be also engraved in the precious metal itself. Traditionally in mirror image so that a print can be made with it in sealing wax to reinforce documents or letters. Women always carry their own family weapon and not that of their husbands.

Image: before 1941. © Collection Tropenmuseum

 

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