White Copper Green Tara Manjushri Open Ring

The character on the ring looks like ornament to anyone who does not know it. A seed syllable is a single syllable of Sanskrit, one letter standing for a Buddha or a bodhisattva, used in recitation, in visualisation and in carving. The Tibetan script came from Sanskrit, and once the letterforms changed, the original shape was no longer visible, which is why the whole thing reads as pattern. Recognition rests on the overall outline rather than the strokes. A symbol at a distance. Stroke order only up close.

Green Tara's seed syllable is usually written tam, and Manjushri's dhi. The Tibetan forms are not quite the same as Chinese transliterations, and the ring takes the Tibetan letterform, with even stroke weight and a small pause at the start and end of each stroke. Judge the cutting by the corners. Machine-cut corners are round. Hand-chiselled corners have a blade's edge, a short straight segment you can catch in the light. Machine work leaves even edges, as though sliced. Hand work leaves a slight burr that has to be taken down with fine abrasive paper. Neither is better than the other. It depends which you want.

An open band with a seed syllable has one practical problem. If the opening sits directly under the character, the character is cut in two. Some makers move the opening to the side, which keeps the character whole but throws the weight of the ring off. This one takes the first route. The lower half of the character sits on the two ends of the opening, and when it is on the finger the ends close and the character joins up again. I think that is clever. The price is that the band cannot be opened too far, because past a point the character will not line up. The opening should just pass the knuckle and need a little effort going on. Too loose and it spins.

Green Tara is one of the twenty-one Taras, green of body, the right hand in the granting gesture and the left holding a utpala. Manjushri stands for wisdom and is usually shown riding a lion, sword raised, a scripture resting on the lotus. Neither figure appears on the ring. Only a letter remains. That is how this kind of object works: the image gives way to the sign. There are two versions, one with Tara's syllable and one with Manjushri's. Do not expect both on one band. Squeeze two characters together and neither of them is legible.

Worn for a long time, a white copper open ring develops a bright line on the inside of the opening. That is normal. Do not reach for pliers. Copper springs back, and once you have squeezed past the point it will not return. Dust in the strokes can be lifted with the point of a toothpick; a needle will scratch the strokes themselves. Take it off for washing your hands or the dishes, because detergent speeds up the darkening of the surface.