Heraldic Jewelry
There is a wealth of suppliers of all sorts of jewelry (and more) available to armigers by hundreds of online websites. There are quite a few standouts – and a lot of “bucket shops,” who prey upon well-intended consumers everywhere from the internet to airport shops to mall kiosks to overseas in-country tourist shops. Most offer incorrect or outright fraudulent products, and so the buyer should always research before spending money on any armorial product from an unknown company. I personally have not ventured too deeply into the world of heraldic jewelry, having focused primarily on a ring to my own specifications.
As you might imagine, in my current position as Executive Director of The American College of Heraldry, I receive many requests from individuals on resources for ways to display their armorial bearings, whether it’s an artist to paint them, or an embroiderer to stitch them onto something, or, most often, where they can have their achievement engraved on a ring, cuff links, etc.
I have always wanted something a bit more unique, and I felt that the ring I had did not exactly reflect the image I originally intended. So, I spent a great deal of time sourcing all possible heraldic engravers worldwide, providing them with the specifications of the ring size I wanted, as well as a drawing of EXACTLY what I wanted on the table of the ring. I can tell you that prices for such a project ranged anywhere from $1000 to well over $3000 – all for the same type and size of ring, and amount of gold.
The company I landed upon, after numerous phone calls and emails – explaining in nauseously excruciating detail how precisely the final ring had to match my drawing – was Dexter Seal Engraving – www.familysealrings.com. The gentleman I dealt with was Simon Wright, and he went above and beyond to explain their process, and gave me assurances (backed with a guarantee) that what they carved would be what I depicted, as exactly as humanly possible. I jumped in with both feet, and entrusted my money and ring to his artisans’ capable hands.
I asked Simon to take some photographs of the process from start to finish, so I could see how they achieved the end result. You can see the results here:
![](https://drw.9august.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/1-Marking-on-1.jpg)
![](https://drw.9august.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/3-ring-2.jpg)
![](https://drw.9august.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2-engraving.jpg)
I am OVERWHELMINGLY pleased to advise that the pictures show a ring that PERFECTLY matches the drawing I sent, and thus may be the best 3-dimensional depiction of my crest I have yet seen. I provided them with a rather unique layout (I superimposed the crest of my achievement over the fretty raguly of the shield). I told the folks at Dexter that I wanted the final product to match my drawing EXACTLY – something that is very difficult to do when an artisan carves something by hand – especially with the geometric complexity of a fretty raguly “background.”
Granted, my design is not intended to be a sealing ring – it was intended to be an “abstract” version of my arms, boiled down to the crest and shield. It may not be to your taste, but imagine that if they can do something “outside the box” like this for me, they would be eminently capable of handling a more traditional armorial achievement for you.
I’m not making anything off this extended “advertisement” – I just know that many of you have similar interest and concerns about getting a quality piece of jewelry to display your armorial bearings. And the good thing about Dexter is that they are at the lower, rather than the upper, end of the price range. Of course, each piece is different, and complexity = additional $$ (or £s), but they are more than fair, and in fact do a superior job for a fraction of what others would charge for the same work.
I would urge you to contact Simon Wright directly if you are interested in having this sort of work done. His direct contact information is shown below, along with their website, which I urge you to visit to see the wide variety of products they can produce. Tell him I sent you. Tell your friends about their services as well.
eMail: sales@dexterrings.com
Callers UK: 01580 241 680
Callers USA: 011 44 1580 241 680
International: 0 +44 1580 241 680
Contact on: Facebook Messenger
Opening Hours: Monday to Thursday 8am-5.30pm
Postal Address: Dexter Engraving – Studio 7 – Windmill Farm – Rolvenden – Kent – TN17 4PF – UK
Website: www.familysealrings.com
One other example of a non-sealing signet ring I discovered online some years ago was created (after my design specifics) by a chap who ran a small machine shop out of his barn(?) somewhere in the northern US. By vocation, I believe he was a dairy farmer, but he had experimented with making computer-programmed jewelry with his small setup, and so intrigued, I contacted him.
The rings he offered (I may have been the first – and only – see a bit later) were actually titanium. His pricing was quite reasonable, and I had wanted a very large ring with Marco Foppoli’s emblazonment of my achievement thereon. So off went my digital art, and he set to “carving.” The result is what you see at right. Absolutely beautiful, and massive too boot!
I then immediately decided I wanted an actual SEALING ring with another emblazonment, which he was eager to undertake. However, this turned out somewhat differently.
Unfortunately, mid-generating, the machine went haywire and gnawed up what had begun as a beautiful precision interpretation of the artwork I sent him. I am loath to share the picture of it with you still on the equipment – it is far too sad to even look at.
He never could get the thing to work right again, and so he abandoned his jewelry making and return to the dairy business (at which I am certain he is far more successful).
It is a real pity that this didn’t work out, as he would have been a tremendous resource for eager armigers.