Signet Rings In Sterling Silver?

March 30, 2012

I'm looking at having a signet ring made for myself by Dexter. I decided on a monogram of my own design and wanted to do it in silver since that's the least expensive (I don't feel like spending a few thousand on just a monogram) and it would go with my Sterling 1911. I'm worried though about the tendency of silver to tarnish and how it will hold up to being pressed in wax over the years. Does anyone else here have a signet ring in silver and does it hold up to making seals? Does it maintain the clarity of the engraving or does it wear down with time?

March 31, 2012

You are safe. The tarnish comes right off with a silver cleaning cloth ( ask Dexter for their insignts on proper cleaning and storage). The wear and tear of use is minor (if any). Seals several hundred years old have been made from softer metals like copper,lead or pewter and still function well.

Edited March 31, 2012 by hardyb

April 1, 2012

Dexter's sterling rings do tarnish, but as Hardy said, the tarnish is easily removed with a Sunshine Cloth or with a silver cleaning paste - NEVER USE TARN-X on silver.

Dexter declines to rhodium plate their sterling rings because Dexter feels the rhodium plating would degrade the detail of their intricate carvings.

You will not be able to polish all the nooks and crannies in the depths of the carvings, but the tarnish that develops there will make the carved design easier to see against the bright silver of the ring face and shank.

As far as durability, sterling silver is a much stiffer alloy than is 14k or 18k gold - gold is much more soft and pliable. You should expect archeologists from the 41st Century to be able to pull your sterling signet ring from the dust in your coffin and make a perfect wax impression.

Good choice - Dexter carves the most detailed signet rings on the planet.

My crossed burgee boat logo in a Dexter 18k rose gold signet:

http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr131/yachtsilverswan/photo-3.jpg

Edited April 1, 2012 by yachtsilverswan

April 1, 2012

Yachtsilverswan, I searched through the forums last week and found your original post of your ring and kiavonne's seals. That drove my decision to go with Dexter.

I was worried that polishing the ring would eventually start to degrade the engraving but those seals look great. My Sailor Sterling 1911 does not have a tarnishing problem even though it is also unplated sterling silver but it isn't being pressed in hot wax. I'll go ahead with sterling for the ring once I finally decide on how my monogram should look. In the last week I've made 20 different versions of the monogram, mostly refinements but several are distinct variants. I even printed out scaled down versions of each that were the size of the rings on Dexter's size chart and used it to decide which size and shape would work the best.

April 1, 2012

Yachtsilverswan, I searched through the forums last week and found your original post of your ring and kiavonne's seals. That drove my decision to go with Dexter.

I was worried that polishing the ring would eventually start to degrade the engraving but those seals look great. My Sailor Sterling 1911 does not have a tarnishing problem even though it is also unplated sterling silver but it isn't being pressed in hot wax. I'll go ahead with sterling for the ring once I finally decide on how my monogram should look. In the last week I've made 20 different versions of the monogram, mostly refinements but several are distinct variants. I even printed out scaled down versions of each that were the size of the rings on Dexter's size chart and used it to decide which size and shape would work the best.

Thanks for your kind words. I think Dexter makes the highest quality signets on the planet, and I spent a long time looking. I've never seen signet engraving to match their artisans - not past, not present. They even engraved the braided pattern on the looping rope framing my crossed burgee logo.

http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr131/yachtsilverswan/photo-1.jpg

Like you, I made scaled down print-outs of the ring face to choose the size of the ring face and to assure the miniaturized design would still be recognizable. I settled on the Gent XXL signet, which looks proportionate on my size 7.5 hand:

http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr131/yachtsilverswan/photo.jpg

If you are still considering choices other than sterling, consider Dexter's 9k white gold. The higher purity white gold rings (14k and 18k) have a tan hue to them due to the higher yellow gold content. The 9k white gold looks as pure white as does sterling - and tarnish is much less of a problem. I'm planning a 9k white gold Dexter signet with the logo of an objectivist secret society that inducted me in college - Atlas with the world on his shoulders. Most of my daily wear metal trim (pen furniture, cufflinks, braces clinches, belt buckles, cigar lighter and cutter) is white metal, and so I want a signet ring to match those other accessories. Men's style trends suggest increasing use of white metal and rose gold - and a waning fondness for standard yellow gold. My completed rose gold signet matches the accessories I wear for dressier events.

Home polishing with a Sunshine Cloth or with a paste silver cleaner (like Wright's Silver Cream) will not abrade the detail of the carving. Polishing the ring on a high speed jeweler's wheel with a jewelers' rouge stick may be more abrasive. If you ever have that done, ask the jeweler to just polish the shank of the ring and the unengraved ring face - ask him not to push the engraved bas relief into the polishing wheel.

You are correct that frequent exposure to the heat of hot wax might accelerate tarnishing - tarnishing is an oxidation reaction, and oxidation reactions are accelerated by heat. But your ring is likely to be "wax hot" only 0.0001% of its life. More likely, the more your ring is worn on your 98.6 F finger, the more rapidly tarnish will develop. On the other hand, as anyone who uses their good sterling flatwear for everyday dining will attest - frequent use of a sterling item prevents or delays tarnish.

You may want to investigate how you store your ring when it's not on your hand. If you store your signet in a dresser valet box that's leather or suede lined, contact the manufacturer of the dresser valet and find out if the leather used was "vegetable tanned." Leather tanned by more corrosive processes off-gas the chemicals used to tan them, and contribute to very very rapid tarnishing of nearby sterling - and even tarnish gold. Vegetable tanned leather and suede do not accelerate tarnishing.

Will you have your monogram engraved in reverse for making wax impressions, or as written to be legible on your hand? I'm sure you know, a signet ring, particularly a monogram signet, is worn with the image facing away from the wearer - so it is recognizable and readable by those you meet.

Looking forward to seeing your ring. You have great taste.

Edited April 1, 2012 by yachtsilverswan

April 1, 2012

I hadn't considered white gold because I thought if I were buying gold I wanted it to look like gold. But you make a good point about it's resistance to tarnishing. I had gotten a quote for the ring in 9kt rose gold as well as sterling which is supposed to be more red than the 18kt. I do have several pens with rhodium trim and I prefer the silver look to gold.

I am having it seal engraved so it will look backwards on the ring face. I also updated my avatar with my monogram design #20 which I'm pretty sure will be the one I'll have made. I had bought one of those initial seals from Goulet Pens with my last initial but it just felt awkward to send a letter or package to my family sealed with my last initial. I wanted something that represented me, not the family in general, so I made the M more prominent (my initials are MCJ). I kept the design simple because I wanted the monogram itself to fill the seal as much as possible and also be easily recognizable. I chose the Mens Large size Cushion because the proportions of the monogram meant that even engraved in an XXL ring the monogram wouldn't be any bigger than in the Large ring.

April 1, 2012

I like the monogram you designed - particularly the line width variation in the J, just as a broad ovoid shaped stylus would make - just like a broad cursive italic nib would make. Does the c (without the expected serifs) look like the Islamic crescent? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbols_of_Islam

Like you, I chose the ring shape to best maximize the engraved design - and my design was vertically oval - so I chose the standard oval shape.

I chose the XXL size not so much to fit the engraved design as to proportionately fit the width of my finger. Looking at the ring on my finger straight on, I wanted the face of the ring about the same width as the width of my finger - with the shank showing an additional 15% of the face width on each side - that looked proportionate to me - not too small and dainty - not too large and gaudy.

Some of this, of course depends on which finger you will wear the ring - mine fits the fourth finger of my right hand - in some European countries the little finger is more often used.

Back onto sterling vs gold - white gold and rose gold are now outselling yellow gold in high end men's watches and cufflinks - and that color trend to white and red - and away from yellow is predicted to continue. White metals (sterling, white gold, platinum, and now palladium) can look more casual than yellow gold, and can more easily be worn all day rather than just used for dress. Red and rose gold looks unique - clearly different from yellow gold, and so can be used as a personal style signature - though red gold usually looks more dressy. As you mentioned, the 9k rose gold from Dexter is more red than their 18k rose gold - and if I order another signet in rose gold - likely their standard heraldic phoenix - then I will order that ring in 9k rose gold to maximize the red color.

It's a fun process, isn't it?

Edited April 1, 2012 by yachtsilverswan

April 2, 2012

Thank you. I noticed the C's similarity to the Islamic Crescent too, although it's completely unintentional. I did try adding serifs to the C but it just didn't look the way I wanted it to. I also wanted to create the idea of a lower case C since it's the middle initial and I wanted the first and last to be more prominent. The line width variation is exactly intended to look like an italic nib but the more horizontal tail of the J is also inspired by the sweeping horizontal lines of some Arabic calligraphy.

I did just put in my order with this artwork in silver. I decided I didn't want to spend the money for gold on just a monogram. This is only the first seal/signet I'd like made. The next one I'm planning to be more elaborate and will likely be in gold. I also plan on wearing the ring on the right ring finger but I won't be wearing it daily. And yes, it is a fun process.

April 2, 2012

Indeed, my $.02; I have two sterling silver rings that I wear every single day, and while they've picked up some scuff marks here and there. The constant wear, handwashing, and polishing just from daily wear has kept them quite shiny.