A Very Superstitious Ring

Project: Design and create a ring related directly to a superstition.

Materials Used: Silver, Silver Wire, Copper Tube, Solder, Coyote Claws, Catseye Bead, Tigerseye Beads, Male Mallard Duck Wing Feather.

Techniques: Ring-Making, Sweat Solder, Hammered Texture, Bezel Setting, Wire Balling, Wire Twisting.

At last, it is finished! Today I got those beads on there, but accidentally created new scratches on the band while drilling the holes that I'm sad to say won't ever fully come out

Anyways, what is the superstition, you may ask? I made this ring to represent good luck when learning from mistakes, based on symbolism, personal superstitions, and said nature of things.

First off, I used a lot of silver. I believe silver (color and metal) to be something lucky, and of course beautiful, haha. I didn't like having to use a copper tube, but in a way it's nice to have another color in there I guess. Just as long as it's not brass XD

The design of the top plate of the ring is wavy, and meant to remind someone of a ying-yang sign. With luck, it will come and go, we have lucky days, and unlucky days. The waves are also a way to signify to the wearer that luck may not come in a direct form, but rather something obscure, so we must remember to not look on events on our lives too critically. Maybe it stinks that you missed the bus, but then a good friend you haven't seen in a while gives you a ride, and you two catch up on things. Who knows.

The band has a hammered texture, to help symbolize the perfect imperfection of nature. Nature knows no smooth course, and neither does luck nor learning most of the time. However, if we look to nature we can find luck and beauty all around us. Don't let life's dips trip you up! And likewise, the ring is a continuous circle, and with many cycles, I believe luck is a cycle, that is truly never-ending. Sometimes it just might be at the far end of the circle, and not currently with you.

The tube holds a feather, and I have a personal belief that these iridescent mallard duck wing feathers are lucky, but only if you yourself found them (so this feather is only lucky to me! haha), or if they're given to you as a gift.

Covering the tube are two tigerseye beads, and a green catseye bead. I've always thought green catseye beads were lucky, and bring good fortune. Tigerseye is said to help provide insight, which I thought would be important if one is to learn from their mistakes. The beads are also in a set of 3, and for me 3 is a special and lucky number

Finally, the coyote claws on either side of the top plate are there to help us learn from our mistakes. I've read somewhere that symbolically, the coyote helps us learn from our mistakes. The claws point inward to the beads, to point to the good luck in this endeavor, as well as try to collect the energies from the tigerseye of insight.

Also, with my chubby fingers this ring is a pinky finger ring. One website I looked at said it's an Irish superstition to wear an iron ring on your pinky to ward off rheumatism. I don't know if it's true since I didn't cross check, but I followed the superstition anyhow since I'm 1/4 Irish, and wanted to hint back at my roots (of course, my ring is silver, not iron, so it's merely a hint at the superstition, not fully following it).

As you can see, a LOT of thought went in to this ring XD