Antique jewelry glossary

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Ring sorts

See our: antique rings.

The ring consists of two parts:

• the circular band called the shank or hoop
• the raised part on the front called the bezel, which is often broadened to support a collet for setting a gemstone, or which bears an engraved, stamped or enamelled motif or a seal or a scarab

The part that includes the bezel and the set stone is sometimes fit called the chaton.

Such rings are of many forms, often depending on the occasion for their use, like a

• coronation ring
• betrothal ring
• engagement ring
• wedding ring
• guard ring
• keeper ring
• cocktail ring
• mourning ring
• serjeant ring
• archers thumb ring

Or depening on the religious significance of the use, like a

• devotional ring
• ecclesiastical ring
• papal ring
• iconographic ring
• decade ring

Other such rings are of many shapes and styles, like:

• browning rings
• bunch ring
• charm ring
• cluster ring
• coiled ring
• coin ring
• commemorative ring
• crossover ring
• double-hoop
• finger ring
• eternity ring
• fede ring
• finger mask
• fob ring
• giardinetto ring
• gimmel ring
• glove ring
• grasshopper ring
• gypsy ring
• handkerchief ring
• investiture ring
• jet ring
• key ring
• locket ring
• lover's-knot ring
• marquise ring
• nun's ring
• poison ring
• polyhedron ring
• portrait ring
• posy ring
• puzzle ring
• regard ring
• scientific ring
• snake ring
• split ring (or twin-bezel ring)
• stirrup ring
• swivel ring
• thumb ring
• trinity ring
• watch ring
• widows ring
• wire ring

From: An Illustrated Dictionary of Jewelry, autor: Harold Newman, publishers: Thames and Hudson