Gifts for Dad: Jewelry for Men - Signet Rings

Remember when you were a child, walking side by side with your father, looking up and seeing Superman. The man with all of the answers and a force of impenetrable protection. He was always there to pick you up when you fell or to help you navigate a daunting pile of cryptic homework.

Fathers are a guiding force giving us our first taste of leadership and authority. As you grow, the tools provided to you by your paternal parent help you forge your own path as you shift from reliance to kinship. A father's eyes beam with pride as he realizes his little human has grown to leave their mark on the world.

Our nuclear families feed into the importance of identity, who we are, what we represent, and where we are from. Many surnames have roots grounded in occupation or familial relation. For example, Wilson derives from old English to mean "son of William". 

With the creation of this type of name and title, there also came a visual way to portray one's self, signets. These precious tokens were typically fashioned as rings or necklaces with a bezel set, carved stone called an intaglio. An intaglio is a flat, hard stone with a deeply engraved, mirrored depiction usually of a coat of arms, a phrase, or image. This conceptualization was used as a wearable business card and would be used to stamp into wax as a signature seal or to be used as identification when traveling and running errands. Signet rings came long before the idea of a handwritten signature and were so incredibly tied to a person's reputation and livelihood that they were often broken upon their death to prevent fraudulent use.

Initially, this form of jewelry was necessary for the upper class to promote their authority and influence, but as time went on, the style was appropriated by multiple classes and often worn as a talisman.

The representative nature of signet rings makes them thoughtful as gifts since they can tell a story simply and poignantly. Such is the case with this Gübelin ring with a coy note to a dear friend, stating, "Now that we met let the lie begin."

One of the oldest, but still frequently used depictions for a signet ring is that of the lion and the bull. Sumerian in its roots, these opposing forces are bound together as a reminder of balance. The bull, a moon sign, is inevitably overtaken by the robust sun sign of the lion, which in turn will be extinguished once more by the bull. A constant rotation of power to sing the harmonious tale of respecting the cycle of life. 

Our David Yurman Petrvs bull and lion ring is the perfect gift for dad as a homage to the ebb and flow of father and child on their journey together.

Shop all our signet rings here to find the perfect gift for dad.