Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Cygnet Rings?


My old boarding school just sent me a brochure about signet rings with our school crest on them.


They’re styled in a charmingly retro fashion (my school is the oldest in Canada, so the designers entered the vault), and I’m tempted, but, as gentle readers may recall, I typically wear only two rings—my wedding ring and my engagement ring, and never on the same hand.

So if you were to wear a signet ring, which hand and finger would you choose?

And, indeed: would one be a cygnet in such a ring?  We won't mention the alternative.

(You’ll recognize Miranda above, from Picnic at Hanging Rock, who is compared to a swan throughout that film.)

12 comments:

LPC said...

My father wears a family signet ring. The crest inscribed on a sapphire. On the pinky! Gasp. On the whole, I love signets. The MIT beaver being my absolute favorite. For a woman, I think it's all about aesthetics. Would there be a stone? Only gold? Or, failing all else, would it look good hanging from a chain around your neck?

BTW, I read you every day. Thanks for your blog. It's unique.

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Gygnet/signet rings, they were popular when I was much younger....I have a male friend who wears one on his pinky finger sort of Prince Charles style...he twists it frequently when he is speaking to a crowd.
I am like you in that I wear my diamond engagement ring on my left hand...we had it redesigned with larger diamonds so a band would just rub the claws and on my right hand I wear either of my vintage rings...a sapphire and diamond or deco diamond ring...depends on my mood.
I am coming back to read what comments this post receives as I am rather curious...

WendyB said...

We've got to get more rings on you!

Belle de Ville said...

Pinky finger of course. That's how all of us aristocrats with family crests wear them.

Anonymous said...

I do have a cygnet ring from university which I rarely wear. I always feel like I have too few fingers for all the rings I love!

My sister went to Bishop Strachan in Toronto, so she insists it's the oldest boarding school for girls in Canada but I do think yours' has hers' beat by several years.

Christine

Miss Cavendish said...

Christine,

My school was founded in 1788, but for boys. It, of course, eventually amalgamated with its sister school, so its claim to originality rests on its early male students!

mette said...

Maybe I might by a signet ring, but only if I´d like it. I don´t think that I would use it though. I would buy it only for the memory part ( if my memories were good ). I use rings on the ring fingers ( the fourth ) on each hand. If I´m only using my wedding rings, then I will switch the watch to the right hand. Just to be in balance ; ). P.S. Thank you for visiting my blog : ).

Null said...

I cringe to think of my signet ring, lost in a fierce Chicago snowstorm while I was shoveling. The beauty of this loss is that it brought on another ring of the engagement kind, a fine alternative I should say.

Why do you not wear your two rings together? Is this some Canadian tradition of yesteryear?

Mardel said...

I had a signet ring from my school which I wore all the time. Foolishly I gave it to a young man. Later I regretted this, and I considered getting another but I realized I wanted it more for sentiment than actual wear. I do wear rings on both hands, usually on the fourth finger, but I have been known to change this up on occasion. The only constant is my wedding set and I enjoy using other rings as accessories, changeable at whim and will.

Elizabeth said...

I'd love a ring, but I don't often wear them. It'd be on my right ring finger, since that's the only place I really wear a ring that's not my wedding ring.

I have my dad's old class ring from 1956, but it's so large, it'll only work on my middle finger.

Make Do Style said...

I have my first cygnet from when I was 11 so I wear it on my right little finger (I don't like the word pinky) and I also have a Cartier Love ring which to the horror of the snotty French Cartier man I had resized to wear on my little finger on my right hand! Quelle Horreur!

Wear rings on your right hand - especially Wendy's xx

Anonymous said...

I would wear it on my right pinky as I do. My signet ring is gold with two diamonds. The only other ring I wear is my wedding ring.