S925 Silver Lotus Open Ring

The advantage of an open ring is that the size can shift; the disadvantage hides at the two ends. With the band not closed, both ends become small hooks, and sweater fibres, long hair and the loops of a towel all love to catch there. On this lotus design the petals open out from the gap towards both sides, the flower centre sits over the back of the finger, and the gap falls on the palm side rather than the front, which halves the chances of snagging. If you are used to closed rings, the first few days feel as though something is missing at the base of the finger. A week and you have forgotten it.

In Buddhism the lotus was a seat before it was a metaphor. Buddhas and bodhisattvas sit on lotuses because the flower rises out of water without taking the mud with it. The Tiantai school reads the word lianhua as petal and seed pod appearing at once, meaning cause and effect together — convoluted to hear, simple enough in a pattern, where flower and pod are drawn as one. Folk use ignores all of that and takes the lotus for cleanliness, and for summer. In a temple it is a throne; in the market it is a season. The two readings have run side by side for centuries without either one displacing the other.

An open ring in S925 relies on a little springback. Silver is ductile, so it can be opened slightly and will return; open it often enough and it fatigues, and the break will always come at the point of sharpest bending rather than on the petals. Adjust the size by sliding the ring onto the finger and easing it, never by pulling both sides apart with two hands. A band forced once loosens faster the second time, and once loose it turns, so the flower centre rotates round to the side and the design is wasted.

The volume of this ring sits on the back of the finger, so it clicks on a keyboard when you type and digs in when you carry a plastic bag. That is the usual problem with three-dimensional flowers and has nothing to do with the making. If you really want to wear it daily in an office, choose a version with flatter petals and a lower profile, so it doesn't jam when the finger bends. Open rings are also a poor choice for a wedding band: under constant load the gap widens and needs pinching every so often.

Silver is not hard, and desks, keys and door handles all leave their marks on it. Fine scratches can be pressed down with a silver cloth worked in circles; deep ones need polishing. Blackening in the hollows of the petals is oxidation gathering on the shadow side. Don't dig at it with a toothpick, which leaves a raw gouge behind. Take the ring off before washing up or showering, because detergents make silver darken faster. Silver cloth stiffens as it ages, and a stiff cloth drags fine lines across polished surfaces, so replace it once it goes hard.