S925 Silver White Tara Seed Syllable Open Ring

Seven eyes, and every one of them deliberate. Three in the face, one in each palm, one in the sole of each foot — that is where White Tara's mark lies. In Tibetan practice she governs long life, and with Amitayus and Ushnishavijaya she forms a group called the three deities of long life, often painted together. Which is why her images always turn the palms outward and spread the feet: the eyes that are otherwise hidden have to show. Made into a ring, all of that reduces to a sign, and I should say so at the start.

The seed syllable is another matter. Each deity has a Sanskrit letter corresponding to it, called the seed syllable, and in visualisation the whole figure arises out of that letter. White Tara's seed syllable is usually written as a single standing Sanskrit character with few strokes, its beginning and end fixed by convention. Cut into a ring, the character is incised, with a plain field left around it and no other ornament. A short horizontal line is cut beneath it for a seat: in thangka the seed syllable always sits on a line, and that habit has been carried over to the ring.

The face is a narrow band and the character runs vertically, read from the top down. A narrow band does not get in the way — it does not catch on a keyboard or a pen — but it leaves little room to cut, so the character has to be slender, and crowd the strokes and it smears. The lettering here is reasonably clean, with no blur where horizontal meets vertical, which comes of leaving tolerance in the die. The strokes are few and short in both directions; the graver has to stand upright, because cutting at a slant thins them.

An open band, adjustable. Once adjusted, silver does not spring fully back, which is normal; do not expect it to behave like a spring. Pad it with a cloth and press slowly with the fingers of both hands, not with pliers. Either hand works. A right-handed person wearing it on the left will not click it against the desk. A short stretch inside the band is left uncut, and that is the part a jeweller works on if the ring is ever resized, so the character comes through untouched.

Worn long, the inside of a silver ring polishes to a bright band while the lettering goes darker, and the contrast makes the character stand out. Clean with a soft brush and neutral detergent, dry it at once, and do not leave it soaking. Fingers change size with the season — tighter in summer, looser in winter — and the open design is there to allow for that.