Thank you for your response! The crest on the signet ring is very similar to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_Hamilton
It is a bit of a mystery to me how this ring ended up in Stockholm, Sweden, with my grandfather. He was given this ring by his mother, I'm not sure when but probably sometime in the 1930's. My grandfather was born in 1920, his mother was a young unmarried woman who had to give him up to be raised by her sisters. They were all quite poor.
If you look at the pictures of the ring on my original post you can see the crest: In a ducal cornet an oak tree fructed and penetrated transversely in the main stem by a frame saw Proper, the frame Or Motto "Through"
I am just very curious about the history of the ring and to which Hamilton it might have originally belonged to.
Sincerely, Anna Strengberg
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Heirloom Heraldic Signet Ring - Link by: Anonymous
Depending on the country designation of the family name "Hamilton" there are variety of different family crests.
Could you please provide more information or a link to the family crest that resembles what's on your ring.
Kind Regards, Rebecca Antique Jewelry Support Crew
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Hamilton family crest by: Anna
Thank you so much for your comment!
I have done some more research myself and when looking at the crest in the bloodstone it appears to be the same as the Hamilton family, the oak tree growing up through from a coronet, through a saw, with the family's motto "through" written on top. Any ideas if it could have originally have belonged to someone in the family and if so, who? If I would like to find out more about this ring, would you have any idea on where to turn?
Kind regards Anna Strengberg
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Danish Antique Signet Ring by: Anonymous
Good Evening Anna!
What a wonderful example of an Continental Antique Ninteen-century signet ring! Rings of this period tend to mirror all the successive artistic styles from Classicism to Romanticism and historical revivalism. The mood of nostalgia for a vanished golden age led to a return of the heraldic signet and the massive episcopal rings of the medieval and Renaissance periods. Inscriptions and traditional symbols of love, marriage and death, continued to express sentiment.
The ring is Danish, jewelry maker is Bernhard Hertz (mostly jewelry) BH Copenhagen, Denmark, ca 1893-1985. b
Interesting to note that Prince Albert of England married Princess Alexandra of Denmark in March 1863.
"Queen Victoria (Albert's mother) had summoned Alexandra for a three week stay at Osborne so that they could become better acquainted before the marriage. Years later, when she herself was Queen, Alexandra recalled that she had been 'terribly frightened at the whole process'. Nevertheless she scored an outstanding success and the Queen pronounced her 'a pearl' and 'so pretty to live with'.
Alexandra returned to Denmark for a final farewell and left Copenhagen on February 26th, 1863, as numerous bouquets were thrown into her carriage. When the royal yacht, Victoria and Albert , neared Gravesend the Danish party could make out through the rain the word 'Welcome' in ten-feet-high letters. Englishmen ignored the Queen's wish that celebrations be kept to a minimum and eighty thousand people crowded into Gravesend to welcome the Princess. The crowds were delighted when the Prince, pale and nervous, ran up the gangway and took his eighteen-year-old bride in his arms and kissed her."
Concluding, that during this time period, Denmark was a hot topic across the chanel in England due to the marriage of Danish Princess Alexandra and Prince Albert in 1863. This date was not long before Bernhard Hertz opened doors for business. It looks like the ring is inscribed with a family crest and no wonder your grandfather always wore it!
