Hello, hello everyone; welcome. I’m glad you’ve found your way to Tea & Gemstones, your podcast home for a shiny happy mix of history, science, and social commentary on anything and everything to do with jewelry and gemstones. We cover topics ranging from why diamonds are every color of the rainbow, how a 15-million-dollar necklace helped bring down the French monarchy, the latest red-carpet fashions, and for a deeper dive, I recommend our four-part series “A Casual History of Gold”, where I follow a golden thread through the history of mankind about how gold has influenced, motivated and inspired humans since the beginning of time. But you know, casually and with a sense of humor, haha Oh- real quick- thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed and rated Tea & Gemstones on Spotify and Apple podcasts, that’s the lynchpin to keeping the show discoverable in the search algorithm. Okay, let’s dive into this juicy new episode.
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I would like to submit the opinion that rings are the epitome of jewelry… more than necklaces or earrings… bracelets or brooches. When I think ‘jewelry’, rings are what first comes to my mind. I suppose that word association is personal for everyone, but for me, it’s rings. Rings can signify so many things. A circle with no beginning and no end, heavy with symbolism. Rings are frequently given as tokens of love and commitment. But beside the first thoughts of engagements and wedding bands… rings are also used to designate authority and power. Imagine a royal court, a weary traveler comes to make a request of the king, who extends a hand for his subject to “kiss the ring.” How about the sweeping epic saga of Tolkien’s “The Lord of the …. Rings.” One ring to rule them all, now that was some gold with authority. While that fictional ring of power was a smooth band, rings that symbolize authority are most often a style called a signet ring.
The signet ring is an ancient accessory. Archaeologists have discovered 3,000-year-old signets from the time of the Egyptian pharaohs. They’re mentioned in the Bible. Most of us know the story of Daniel who was thrown in the lion’s den. Well, his ancient story contains a signet ring reference. In the Old Testament, book of Daniel, chapter 6, verse 17 states quote, “and a stone was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.” But wait- hold up a second- what IS a signet ring? Well, a signet ring is a wearable piece of a person’s identity. A signet is usually a larger in size ring with a big face carved with very purposeful markings- like either a family crest, inlaid with gemstones or other symbols designating a position of authority. Back in days before technology- everything was written by hand- how do you apply a mark of authentication to a document? Well, signet ring markings are reverse engineered so when the ring is stamped into ink or wax, the design displays out perfectly. The mark of the signet conveyed the king’s definitive authority for his actions. But I think it also applies a layer of accountability and responsibility- in a time before much documentation was possible, signets allow for tracing of decision making. The high level of detail and intricacy of the designs made them nearly impossible to copy- so that’s how before technology you could know a decree really did come from the king, or even that a father’s last will and testament was his own. The signet ring was worn on the pinkie finger of the nondominant hand, to keep the ring safe from wear and tear and easily accessible to emboss and seal documents. While a family crest signet ring can be passed down as an heirloom through generations, some signet rings were considered too powerful to exist after their owners died- they were destroyed to prevent any forged documents being created postmortem. It makes sense- think of the chaos if someone could write up whatever they wanted and literally apply a stamp of truth? Nowadays a signet ring cannot count as a person’s official signature on a waiver, a lease or a driver’s license… how unglamourous, right? A signet ring has become a stylish fashion choice- most luxury jewelers offer their own signet designs. David Yurman alone as of 2021 offers 81 different signet rings. And don’t get me wrong- I am absolutely not dogging the concept of a modern heirloom- blending the historical with the new, that’s my *jam*- but there is one place on Earth where the custom signet ring is truly rarified and revered… and it sits on the hand of someone that 1.3 billion people consider the highest authority on the planet… I’m talking about his Holiness… the Pope.
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So, the Pope. To describe the pope is no small feat. It’s grandeur and pomp and formality layered more thickly than upon any other job title in the world. I guess if there was an Indeed job posting for the position you’d have to list it’s full regalia, “Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the Vatican City State, Servant of the Servants of God.” … pause for effect… But hey- did you hear the name “Pope” in there? You don’t have to rewind- you didn’t hear it listed because it isn’t actually one of the job’s official titles. It’s actually… more of a nickname, if you can believe that. Dr. Terrence W. Tilley, Chair of the Theology Department at Fordham University says quote, “calling the pope ‘pope’ is a little like calling your CEO, ‘chief.’ ‘Pope’ comes from the Italian, ‘papa.’ It’s a colloquial term rather than a formal term. ‘Holy Father,’ ‘Sancta Papa,’ which is where you get “pope.”” End quote. I will openly admit, before I started researching this episode I did not know “Pope” was a nickname haha It makes me smile that the head of the Catholic Church, an incredibly formal and structured organization… their leader is called papa. But this is not a religious or political podcast, you’re here for the jewelry.
So, while yes, the Catholic Church loves lavishness, and gold and just copious amounts of adornment in general- for the sake of this episode we are taking a focused look at just one thing… the papal ring. Which is not an insignificant item. The rings have a deep historical legacy. The existence of the pope’s ring is first documented in history in the year 1265, when Pope Clement the 4th wrote a letter to his nephew and mentioned “the ring of the fisherman” was used to seal all the pope’s private correspondence. So, there are two takeaways from this statement, one is referring to the ring as “the ring of the fisherman,” which harkens back to the first pope, St. Peter, who was a humble fisherman until he became one of Jesus Christ’s apostles, who were told by Christ, “I will make you fishers of men.” The 2nd takeaway is the distinction of the ring sealing the pope’s *private* letters. Private, not public. So while king’s and lords would seal decrees, laws, official stuff with their signets- the ring of the fisherman is more personally connected to the “off-duty” side of this very, very formal and authoritative entity of the Pope. Public documents definitely still got a “stamp of approval” as it were, it was a separate seal, usually made of lead, that stamped those papers. Those seals are called “papal bulls.”
Discovering the more personal nature of the Ring of the Fisherman only makes me like it more- of course jewelry should be personal! And each Pope seemed to relish the opportunity to create their own ring to represent themselves. Because while like family signet rings can become heirlooms passed down through the generations- the papal rings are a one person use only. Each new pope gets a new custom ring for himself. And the Catholic Church stays very on brand for their love of ritual when it comes to the issue of, “how do you handle a problem like a former pope’s ring?” There are the thorny possibilities I talked about earlier, of impersonating and falsifying documents with a signet ring on the wrong person’s finger. Well, the Catholic Church prevents this problem with one of their favorite things… a ceremony, haha In this ceremony the former pope’s ring is, well, not fully destroyed- like melted down and gone- but it is rendered null and void for its power. So there’s a guy called the Camerlengo (cah-mer-lingo), a sort of private secretary for the pope. After a pope is no longer pope, for whatever reason, just about always death, but super rarely, resignation, the Camerlengo brings the papal signet ring before the cardinals of the church- the cardinals are chief officials of the papal bureaucracy… and they do wear the bright red color of a cardinal bird… though that’s not where their name derives from- it’s from the word “cardo,” which is Latin for door, or hinge- meaning they are the door or access to becoming Pope- since a new pope is elected from the Cardinal’s ranks. It’s funny- the bird actually takes its name from the church- when the English were arriving in the Carolinas in the 1700s, they saw the beautiful red birds sporting the same color as the… cardinals. And so the birds and the church leaders share a pronoun. But anyway! Sorry- I love etymology (eh-tuh-maa-luh-jee) the study of the origins of words. And there are a lot of words to explain when trying to talk about the Catholic Church. It’s easy to get off track when discussing anything to do with Catholicism, an institution awash in terms and phrases that may be unfamiliar to people. All this is set the background for the ritual of voiding out the former papal ring. The Camerlengo takes the ring and in front of the cardinals acting as witnesses, the camerlengo takes a silver hammer and chisel and makes two lines on the face of the signet in the shape of a cross- therefore rendering the document sealing authority of the ring cancelled. Sometimes the ring goes on display for a little while after this- though the only ring on continuous display in the Vatican museums belongs to the “antipope” Clement the 7th- who was elected in 1378 by French cardinals who didn’t like the pope in Rome, Urban the 6th- that was a mess. Anyway, it’s a disappointment to me that these masterworks of gold, imbued with history, tradition and authority exist in posterity pretty much just in photographs and a few paintings. But the rings lack of continued physical presence certainly doesn’t mean we shouldn’t examine all their fascinating details. So mostly all the fisherman’s rings exhibit the same artistic theme, with each pope applying their own interpretation of a depiction of St Peter and their own papal name.
Pope Benedict the 16th in 2005 commissioned his ring based on the paintings of Michelangelo; and boy did he have a specific vision… the jewelers submitted over 200 drawings before the design was finalized. The ring was a large elliptical shape of 35 grams of yellow gold- it was crafted by 8 goldsmiths working 15-hour days for 2 weeks. In contrast to this grandeur, Benedict’s successor, Pope Francis skewed the notion he needed a lavish solid gold ring- he commissioned a silver ring from a jeweler in Barcelona, Spain. He actually chose an archived design of St. Peter holding two keys- representing authority in heaven and Earth; the design was originally created for Pope Paul the 16th who never had the design made. I think it reinforces Pope Francis’ reputation as a humble leader focused on humility that he approached his papal ring’s creation this way. But low-key Pope Francis is not the norm for a pope’s vibe and well, …that makes for a lot of bling to talk about haha Swinging the pendulum from pope Francis, let’s look at Pope John Paul the second. He took a crucifix, which is a decorative cross, he took a crucifix belonging to Pope Paul the 6th and had it made into a ring- the cross was turned sideways, so the long portion wraps around the finger and an image of St. Peter is engraved on the vertical portion. This play on the traditional round or oval signet shape is unexpected for a pope- a profession pretty rigidly structured in tradition. I like that taking a closer look at the fisherman’s rings can reveal little glimpses of personality. Benedict the visionary perfectionist, Francis the modest, John Paul the second, he was the first non-Italian pope in more than four hundred years, with his own progressive ideas, I looked at his modified crucifix ring as a representation of his putting a literally ‘spin’ on ideas. Um, so with the idea that these rings give us glimpses of personality, with that idea in mind, what does it mean that Pope Pius the 9th in the late 1800s, he wore a large ring featuring -get this- a cameo of himself, all in white diamonds on yellow gold. That seems like some epic Mariah Carey level diva-ness, no- it’s higher level than that haha But I guess when you’re the pope commission your ring, who is going to tell you, “no”? ‘No, you can’t have a ring depicting your face in diamonds’, I mean, Jesus says in the book of Luke, Chapter 6, verse 20, ‘blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” Haha- but okay, I’ll back off the spicy… thank you Pius the 9th, for the flex- your ring is certainly worth talking about, jewelry and bling are the whole reason I’m here talking. People’s grand ideas for what jewelry can be is the fuel for a lot of podcast episodes.
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One of my favorite examples of a papal ring is from Pope Clement the 14th. Now, this ring might have been made commemorative of his service, since it was supposedly dated ‘1774,’ which would make it not the official fisherman’s ring, but it’s worth mentioning. Pope Clement, he had a large oval, not surprising there, but, it was two-toned! Yall know I love mixing metals. The ring’s bezel and shank are high karat yellow gold, but the dark onyx oval face is carved with the papal tiara- which is an epic ceremonial hat, and two crossed keys- yeah, like the design Pope Francis chose. I mean, there are only so many established motifs in existence that relate to St. Peter, so unless you go rouge like diamond face Pius the 9th, there will probably be some repeats. Even the names get repeated- each new pope chose a name for himself, and there have been twelve popes named Pius. We have some details about two other Pius pope’s rings- Pius the 10th and Pius the 12th both had fisherman’s rings featuring dark large stones, most likely amethyst, though Pius the 12th’s stone was much larger than Pius the 10th’s. I couldn’t find anything about the guy in the middle, Pius the 11th. It is curious… most of the more than 260 popes- there aren’t an abundance of available details about their papal signet rings. This ring that conveys a literal seal of authority, tied to the identity of one of the most powerful people on Earth… historians are left a bit empty handed on the details. Sure, we know lots about the ring’s broad significance and purpose (for me, it’s hard to think of a piece of jewelry with more authority)- but the little details that could provide personal, humanizing insights into the aesthetic preferences of His Holiness, Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, etc, etc, we don’t get treated to those details except for the most recent popes, when the jewelers themselves are like, giving interviews about the ring creation process and modern photography gives us the ability to document, zoom in and examine. If someone could please create a compendium of papal jewelry… I’d buy that. That’s a bigger homework assignment than little ol’ me could take on. All I can do is hopefully bring some attention to what I think is one of the coolest *jobs* a piece of jewelry can have… the signet ring with it’s unique connection to personal identity and authority, from the humble family crest on an heirloom, to kings and merchants, all the way to bespoke creations for the head of the Catholic Church… to a personal piece you can buy for yourself, don’t sleep on signet rings. They’ve been around a long time and are certainly here to stay.
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That’s all for this episode of Tea & Gemstones. I may just be turning off my microphone and then going to browse the internet for my own signet ring that reflects my personality. If you’re inspired to make your own future heirloom purchase, tag us in a pic on Instagram, at Tea and Gemstones. All I’ve ever wanted is to be a sparkly educator slash influencer. Check out the show notes for a link to our website which has full transcripts for every episode and the bibliography. Our theme music is by Joseph McDade with additional music by Audionautix. Please don’t forget to leave a rating and a review for the show on whatever platform you’re listening on… it is all the keeps Tea and Gemstones from being buried by the dreaded algorithm. It really does make a huge difference to the visibility of the show. Okay everyone, I have been your host, Jen, it has been fun hanging out. Until next time, Stay Sparkly.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
“The History Press | A Brief History of Signet Rings.” The History Press, www.thehistorypress.co.uk/articles/a-brief-history-of-signet-rings. Accessed 12 Jan. 2022.
Ross, Scott. “New Pope Takes on 8 Official Titles, But Pope’s Not One.” NBC4 Washington, 13 Mar. 2013, www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/pope-titles/1937813.
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