Browse the Finger Ring Collection

Signet ring: The signet ring has been used to seal business and legal documents since Egyptian times. A variety of devices were employed to distinguish the owner of each seal. From the early 14^th century, heraldic shields were in use in Italy, England and France for those entitled to them. In the 15^th century a badge and motto was preferred. Merchants or craftsmen who did not bear a coat of arms would use a merchant’s mark (a symbol made up of lines based on the cross or the figure 4). These first appeared in the 14^th century and were used in almost every country.Other personal devices included the rebus (a form of device made up of symbols that represent the owner’s name) and the owner’s initial, both very popular in the 15^th and early 16^th century.The signet ring fell out of use in the mid-seventeenth century when it became more fashionable to wear the seal mounted on a chain beside the watch.