As to where the idea was originally coin, I’m not sure… It’s a seemingly obvious transition to make, in the light of a signet being passed down through the generations - the likelihood of it not perfectly fitting the finger, is very high. Therefore, to hang a signet from a chain around your neck, instead of stocked in a safe, has the same ceremonial and visual significance as running it on your mitts.

It feels far too practical to grant the original ownership of this style to Frodo’s escapades to Mount Doom. Not to say that this didn’t give the look a little positive nudge in the early 2000s.

There is a story worth telling here. Something that we have done for a few special custom designs in the past. It’s an extension of the ‘ring on the chain’ approach that would generally be brought on by an ill-fitting heirloom.

We found ourselves in a situation that required an additional piece to be made for another family member who wasn’t a signet ring wearer. What we then did, was scaled down a version of their signet ring to be worn on a chain around the neck

THE ELEVENTH FINGER

'A Concept That Will Never Be Pushed… But when it's right, it's right.'

Residue left over from the Your Pa's launch, had formed it’s own concept in the pendant category.

An idea from the same birth, with an added element of reality.

The reality being, that the genuine heirloom pieces that were handed down through the generations were often unwearable sizes and out of reasonable fear of damaging the piece during a resize, they instead hung from chain around the neck.

Something else that further fed the concept-mule…

A customer a few years back had mentioned breaking their finger in a dust up, which had healed like a permanent rolled ankle and therefore he had since relocated the piece to be hung around his gullet (worn on a chain around his neck).

This marked the start of a very long winded brewing period. Not because the concept was wildly complex but I think I just understood the otherwise ‘gimmicky’ nature to the product if it was pitched without a solid rationale. To be honest, I feel that this is one of those ideas that is not meant to live front and centre, maybe it’s best to be shared by only a select few, whom it makes itself known to.

When the situation asks, or if we feel that the signet needs a more realistic path to ‘heirloomship’. Then the tenure may be better served hanging from a necklace.

In this particular instance (photo above), this was a very special piece for us, as we made a signet for a close friend who was honouring his late father with the coat of arms of their home country.

The combination of the two here is a beautiful thing, as a scaled down version of the signet is worn by his sister as a pendant.

We’ve spoken about it many times, in which an heirloom has absolutely nothing to do with innate characteristics of the jewellery. It’s the context in which a piece gains that status.

Often, its earned over time. In this case, its birth was in its creation.

Sisu.