Rings

[TheModernLife]

I recently got one of these vintage "good luck" skull rings on eBay. I know they made them from the turn of the century till the 50s or 60s so I have no idea what era it's really from.

It's pretty worn down and looks OLD. Looks like it did have the jewel eyes but they're long gone. Stamped STERLING on the inside.

Any idea how to date it?

 

[flat-top]

Your ring is probably from Johnson-Smith. They sold that same style in their catalogs for years.
Here is an ad that dates all the way back to 1922:

And here is a recent Lofgren repro:

You may know all of this already. I wouldn't know any other way to date it, but at least you know it's mid century or earlier!

 

[Earl Grey Tea Drinker]

Yeah, it is kind of weird that skull and bones would be considered "good luck". I never knew that until I did research awhile ago. A lot of gamblers wear skull and bones rings.

 

[Mr Badger]

Folks in the UK who are hankering after a nice repro skull ring should check out SWS of London, who do some excellent stuff at far less than Japanese prices / without the risk of heavy duty import charges from the US... I just nabbed the 'Large Mexican Skull Ring', which is absolutely spot on!

 

[flat-top]

Mr Badger, I was just gonna post a pic of that exact same ring!! I picked one up from the man himself at Viva Las Vegas. It's my new favorite and it was reasonably priced!!

 

[Mr Badger]

Hey Flat Top, 'great minds', etc!

I'm really pleased with it, quite hefty too... Francois does some really nice stuff, I've been wearing one of his anchor pendants for years, wish we still lived in London, he's got a sale on at his vintage clothing stall in Camden at the mo'!

 

[daizawaguy]

Mark Ruff rings

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

Nice mexican ring flat top.

 

[howardeye]

That is a great looking ring! Here are some of my everyday wear.

 

[Michaelshane]

Looks like a Steve Yellowhorse bracelet and ring.

 

[howardeye]

You have great taste if you know about him. He is the best. My wife and I have a lot of Steve's creations. I used to sell his jewelry until I started making my own. If I was selling more jewelry I would purchase more from him but the economy is bad for jewelry especially the hand-fabricated stuff. He is one of my Facebook friends if you are looking for him. You can find me and all my creations on Facebook under Fathers Business Jewelry. Thanks for the reply.

 

[earl]

Those are some fine rings. I have a bit of a thing for rings. Besides my wedding ring, have 6 others I wear on a rotating basis, (the wedding band on 1 hand and another ring on the other). 3 are Native American, (1 Navajo and 2 Northern Plains), 2 onyx, (1 silver, 1 gold), and a garnet in gold. Even occasionally wear bracelets such as a silver Nepalese bracelet. Earl

 

[howardeye]

Thanks. I will be purchasing another wrench ring from this store soon. He does fantastic work. He can probably make a Fedora Ring! I make everything but rings so I have to go to others for my fingers!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/DansMagic

 

[Johnny DJ]

After years of this thread running, no one mentioned Frank Sinatra's pinky ring? I should think that to be a requirement for a ring thread.

Your welcome.

 

[Evan Everhart]

Any stones in particular that are better for signet rings (wax sticks less, can be cut more detailed, etc.)? And as far as the design, should the stone's face lay flush with the metal so there's less of a crack for wax to stick between? Or the stone's face be raised higher than the base metal so the gold doesn't touch the wax? Or solid gold is best (no stone)?

Thanks for the answers. Sorry for all these questions.

I personally favour the absolute classics in signet ring stones, which are carnelian, sardonyx, and in chief; the elusive blood stone which is the non-plus ultra of elegance, classicism, and perfection in this sector. I also personally really fancy blue onyx or jade if you can get your hands on it.

 

[Evan Everhart]

I've got 14 silver rings, 1 white gold ring(alloy, NOT plate, from the 20s or 30s with a saphire), 3 yellow gold rings, and two jade rings (1 rainbow jade, 1 sea-foam jade), and an incredibly ugly ivory ring with oblong peridots set into its sides (it's shaped like a very tall egg and I think it's meant as a cocktail ring...It's so ugly that despite it's obvious worth my wife doesn't even want it and she loves jewelry, weird or not. I bought it for 75 cents at the Goodwill many years ago). I'll get some pictures up soon. Especially my white gold pinkie ring and my last two acquisitions, two signet rings; 1 Edwardian neo-classical revival model in silver and carnelian, and 1 in solid yellow gold with an interesting interlocking abstracted ram's horns and shield motif on the sides of the face, also an Edwardian model and neither have ever been engraved! Lucky me! One other thing, one of my silver rings is a wedding band; my family on my father's side usually do that, and one of my gold rings is also a wedding band.

 

[Dig]

Hello everybody, this is my first time here. What brought me here is research I've been doing on a particular ring that my grandfather gave to me about 25 years ago and that I wear all the time. In years of looking for some additional history on this ring I've only found a couple other examples. One was on ebay recently and a few pages back in this thread flat-top posted some pics of a modern version. Here's the ring:

My grandfather got the ring in the 40s while in the Navy. It apparently used to have red gemstone eyes which have long been lost. I've been able to find the general history of the rings, often called Mexican biker rings or souvenir rings and were made from the 40s through the 50s. If anybody can point me to more specific info that would be great. Is it known who in particular created these?

I also have a very cool collection of Native American jewelry from my other grandfather who was from Arizona. He left me a box full of rings, silver/turquise watch bands, and belt buckles that I wear often. Below are two of my favorite rings that are not really my style, but they are fun. In the bottom picture I am trying to identify the artist's hallmark on the left ring. The right ring is Randall Tom.

 

[Mr Badger]

If anybody can point me to more specific info that would be great. Is it known who in particular created these?

Hey Dig, welcome to the FL! Apologies for not spotting this sooner... Ooh, good question! I'd email two folks who do repros of the 1940s-50s rings, and have considerable experience with the originals, namely Francois at SWS of London and Innis at Fine Light Trading, as I'm sure they'd be able to tell you more about your grandfather's ring – which is a corker, by the way!

While we're on the topic of rings, I finally managed to find a suitable way of displaying mine, in the shape of a ceramic repro 'phrenology hand' – only £6 and it does the job nicely, I just turned it around the other way:

Here's what the other side looks like – I'm guessing that these are still mass-produced and available in many low end interiors/head shops, and for us guys they're far more suitable than the usual 'ladies' ring hands that you see:

Now got quite a tidy dressing area goin' on:

 

[flat-top]

Wow I can't believe I missed that post. The repro I have is by Zip Stevenson's Hollywood Trading Company that he calls The Knockout Ring. He has an original as well, originally owned by his father in law in the 1940's. Zip is on Facebook and may be able to tell you more about it.

http://www.facebook.com/ziphtc

 

[mattfink]

I've been collecting, buying and selling these rings for a while now as well. Your grandfathers ring is pretty spectacular and in great condition. You could easily get a jeweler to replace the eyes with stones or glass. The history of these rings is varied, but originally they were melting down pesos and making them into rings. They are made of a variety of materials including brass, silver and nickel silver. Johnson & Smith was novelty company here in Detroit that sold these rings...I can find them as far back as the 1930's, but could be earlier. Here's my collection from a couple years back:

There is one in the back row second from the right has a very similar base to your grandfather's. SWS and Fine Light Trading both make spectacular rings. I've yet to get one from TFL, but have several from SWS.

Hello everybody, this is my first time here. What brought me here is research I've been doing on a particular ring that my grandfather gave to me about 25 years ago and that I wear all the time. In years of looking for some additional history on this ring I've only found a couple other examples. One was on ebay recently and a few pages back in this thread flat-top posted some pics of a modern version. Here's the ring:

SWS and Fine Light Trading both make spectacular rings. I've yet to get one from TFL, but have several from SWS:



My grandfather got the ring in the 40s while in the Navy. It apparently used to have red gemstone eyes which have long been lost. I've been able to find the general history of the rings, often called Mexican biker rings or souvenir rings and were made from the 40s through the 50s. If anybody can point me to more specific info that would be great. Is it known who in particular created these?