Ring roundup: antique snake rings.

I’ve been on a snake kick lately and I know I’m not the only one. Finding the antique snake ring of my dreams at the Baltimore Summer Antiques Show has done nothing to dampen my serpentine enthusiasm. They’re so lovely to look at, sinuous and sensual and always slightly mysterious.

They’re also rife with symbolic meaning. Did you know that Queen Victoria’s engagement ring was a snake ring set with an emerald? It represents eternity and everlasting love. Especially the ouroboros, the symbol of a snake that’s eating its own tail.

Let’s kick things off with this hefty antique beauty from Antique Animal Jewelry.

This one’s Victorian and it’s perfectly luscious. The scale detail, the chunky diamond head, the swirling body of the snake as it twines around the finger. Delicious.

What’s incredible about this 1930’s Art Deco triple snake ring from Maejean Vintage is that it’s actually sterling silver and gold fill – so as gorgeous and pristine as this badass beauty is, it would only set you back $185. I especially love the mixed metal design and the snakes’ tiny pearl eyes.

And then there’s this regal showstopper from Lang Antiques.

It’s Victorian, and fit for a queen. As much as I love this richly-hued sapphire, it’s the negative space around the snakes’ delicately twining bodies that slays me about this piece. I could trace those curves with my eyes all day.

This one is actually a vintage rather than an antique snake ring. not antique – it’s the youngest ring here, dating to the 1970’s.

But anyway: this particular beauty is from A Brandt and Son and the gorgeous detailing you’re drooling over is black and white enamel over gold. I swoon for its bold juxtaposition of colors and slightly open mouth.

My newest snake ring has a turquoise-set head, and I’m obsessed with it. This one from Addy’s Vintage is very different, but I love its warm yellow gold and robin’s egg blue turquoise stone. It’s a little later than some of these, circa 1910. So delicate and swirly.

And last but certainty not least: this elegant Art Nouveau beauty from The Eden Collective. Look at how delicately that snake is curled around its large, baroque pearl. Beautiful.

This guy from Erie Canal Collectors also vintage rather than antique – from the 1960’s. It’s possible that I should have called this article “Ring roundup: snake rings I feel like showing you and CATEGORIES BE DAMNED.”