S925 Silver Conch Shell Flower Ring

Set a flower ring beside the plain-flower ring and the difference is in the head. Here the flower has petals and a stamen: two layers of petals, the outer open, the inner curled, with a small boss at the centre standing in for the stamen. The more layers, the more chasing it takes, because the edge of each layer has to hold down the one beneath it; where it does not, the whole thing collapses into a single mass. The head takes most of the face, with only a rim left around it, and that proportion keeps it from looking crowded on the hand.

The silver runs pale, and the hollows of the head are darkened slightly to bring out the front-to-back relation of the petals. Only the deepest seams are darkened, not whole areas — darken whole areas and it becomes antiquing, which does not suit the freshness of a flower. That judgement is the first thing I look at when I see stock. The inner layer has only three petals; five would be crowded, and there would be nowhere for the central boss to sit. The back of the head is hollow, and the thickness of the petals can be seen from below; the hollow saves material and keeps the head from feeling heavy.

On the wangbei, I go by the trade name and will not invent an origin. Set the white of the stone beside the white of the silver and they are not the same white: one is cold, the other warm by a shade, and only close up can you tell. The stone's white is uneven and shifts in depth with the light, while the silver's is uniform and reads flat at a glance. That difference barely survives a photograph and has to be seen in the hand. The silver rim is pressed over the outer circle of the flower and kept thin, so from the front it is only a bright line, and not obviously metal.

An open band, adjustable. The head is heavy, so the ring rotates to one side when worn; that is a matter of centre of gravity, and resizing will not fix it. Turn the head toward the back of the hand and it rotates less. The petals get caught between the fingers, which you feel when you walk; it becomes familiar. The band is adjusted tighter than an ordinary ring, so it has to be turned slightly to seat properly, and once seated it stays.

A silver ring does not mind water; what it minds is detergent. Hand soap and dish soap lodge in the seams of the petals, dry to a white ring, and over time turn the silver dull. Taking it off for housework is easier than cleaning afterwards. The raised parts of the head polish bright against a sleeve, and the contrast with the darkened seams grows, which makes the flower look more modelled. The edges of the petals are hand-finished and checked one by one; anything out of line goes back. This ring and the plain-flower one make a pair — one full-worked, one plain, on the same hand — and the contrast of busy and quiet is the point.