Brass Five Jambhalas Gourd Open Ring

The advantage of an open ring is that it adjusts; the disadvantage is the same thing. Brass is ductile, and one or two bends do no harm, but bend it often enough and fine cracks appear at the opening until it breaks there. Set the size before you buy, then leave it alone and wear it as though it were closed. Put a cloth between the metal and the pliers when adjusting, since jaw marks are ugly and permanent. An open band is a live size, one ring covering two or three finger sizes. After adjusting, make a fist and check that it doesn't bind.

The gourd appears in wealth-deity subjects through the pun: hulu sounds like fulu, fortune and salary. The five routes of wealth are east, west, south, north and centre, each with its own jurisdiction, and folk practice gathers all five for the idea of wealth on every road. A ring is too small to show five figures, so most versions take the gourd and fold the meaning into a single form. The five routes are directions, not five people, which is often confused. Zhao Gongming is the martial wealth god, Guan Yu the righteous one, Bi Gan the civil one. Gathering all five is about completeness, and a ring missing one can still be worn.

Here the gourd becomes the face of the ring, with a vine running onto the shoulders. Brass's warm colour sits well with red cord and dark wooden beads, and clashes with silver, since the two metals throw different light. The vine should turn smoothly; stop it in the middle of a shoulder and it looks stiff. The waist of the gourd falls on the face, which makes a natural division, and the raised parts wear first: worn flat, the pattern breaks. The shoulders are narrow, so only a section of vine fits, not the whole run.

The opening sits at the bottom of the band. Put the ring on from the side of the finger rather than forcing the gap wider. Once adjusted, press the opening closed so it sits snug, or it will catch hair. The edges of the opening should be rounded, because a square edge scratches. Slender fingers should take the narrow version, since a wide band rotates, and the inside of the band needs polishing too or it rubs. Copper carries heat quickly and feels cold for a moment in winter.

A copper ring develops a bright band where it rubs, which is wear rather than plating coming off. To bring the shine back, use a cloth with a little copper polish, taking care not to strip all the aged colour out of the recesses. Rinse with clean water and dry it, because polish left in a seam turns green, and keep it off the skin. Store it dry, since copper minds damp and not dryness. Copper polish is gritty, so rinse thoroughly afterwards.