Sterling silver rose ring

For centuries, the rose has been used as a symbol in societies across the world. It's actually the national flower of England and the USA, and also has a strong religious meaning - for example, it's associated with the Virgin Mary and is also identified with Aphrodite and Venus, the ancient Greek and Roman goddesses of love. And if you asked ten random people in your local town or shopping mall what they think of when they think of roses, most of them would probably say "romance/love"! A ring with a rose design is therefore a perfect way to tell someone that you love them, whether on Valentine's Day or at other times of the year. Alternatively, it would also be a great way to treat yourself.

I've had a look on Amazon.com and found a fab range of rose rings - have a look at the capsules further down the page and see what you think! I have chosen sterling silver because it's a precious metal, yet is within the range of most pockets. It's also highly attractive, and suits most wearers.

Carolyn Pollack's range of silver rings includes some fab pink rose designs in the Southwestern style, which are made in the USA from recycled silver. The stone on the soft rose rhodochrosite ring (see below) is one inch long. The "rose" bit is actually two-fold - the name "rhodochrosite" actually means "rose-coloured", and the ring also has flowers carved in the silver setting.  Alternatively, Carolyn Pollack's carved flower "Rodeo Romance" ring has a stone made from rhodonite, which is carved into a rose shape. In case you were wondering, rhodochrosite and rhodonite both contain manganese (hence their lovely pink hue), but rhodochrosite is softer and more rare.

If Southwestern style isn't your thing, then there are several other types of pink rose ring to go for - the pink being provided by cubic zirconia! Or if you want to go for something with a darker feel to it, then why not choose a black rose instead? Either of the black rose rings featured here would be great as cocktail rings when worn with a party dress.

Amazon's also got it covered when it comes to plain sterling silver rose rings. You can also take your pick of oxidised and non-oxidised designs - my personal preference is for the latter, but your taste may be different of course! A good value choice would be Silver Insanity's small sterling silver rose ring - the rose is a nice size (about 7 mm across). Or try a rose ring set with marcasites. The marcasites used in jewellery are actually made from pyrite, which is otherwise known as "fool's gold". Marcasite jewellery was popular in the Art Deco era of the 20s/30s and is great for adding a bit of sparkle without being too "blingy".

© Empress Felicity November 2010