Dearest Rings and Regard Rings
What is a Dearest and Regard Ring?
Have you ever heard of a ‘Dearest’ or ‘Regard’ ring? These designs are known as Victorian romantic rings or love tokens and are often colourful and eye catching. You may have seen a ring in this style before and not realised. This is because, at first glance, the colourful gemstones may look like they have been chosen purely for their aesthetics, but they also hold a hidden message.
Traditional Dearest Ring Designs
A Secret Message
Hugely popular in the Victorian era, acrostic jewellery allowed couples or friends to convey secret messages of endearment to one another. They did this by using the initials of precious and semi-precious gemstones to spell out a word. For example, the favoured ‘Regard’ ring was spelt out using the initial letters of the gemstone’s ruby, emerald, garnet, amethyst, ruby and diamond. The Dearest ring is spelled with the first letters of diamond, emerald, amethyst, ruby, emerald, sapphire and either topaz or turquoise.Other words commonly spelt out included ‘Love’ using lapis, opal, vermeil (the old name for garnet) and emerald and ‘Adore’ using; amethyst, diamond, opal, ruby and emerald.
Dearest Ring from of our Victorian Collection
History
In the past, trends in jewellery and accessories were not just influenced by fashion but also by notable aristocrats, including members of the royal family.
Acrostic jewellery in the British Isles rose in popularity in the 1820s and 1830s. Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837 during what is now considered the Romantic Era. The Victorians are well known for their love of romance and symbolism, so it is no surprise that people were drawn to this jewellery trend.
18ct Yellow Gold Regard Ring
Styles we offer
We offer a wide selection of Victorian style jewellery including the Dearest and Regard rings.
Our Romantic Rings vary in design and shape, but they are all based on original rings from the 19th century. Each ring is true to the original designs and made exclusively by us in London.
All of the rings can be personalised for you. So, if you like the idea and thought behind this style of ring but would like a different word spelt out, please do let us know. These rings can be personalised to spell out any six or seven letter word or abbreviation, for example; a pet’s name or a person’s name. The rings can be given on a variety of occasions such as; on Mother’s Day, at Christmas, as an anniversary, birthday or Valentine’s Day present.
We would be pleased to discuss any ideas you have in mind over the phone, by email or in an in-person appointment. We can then work with you to identify which gemstones would be suitable for your ring design.
We believe the messages that these Victorian romantic rings convey are just as relevant and symbolic today as they were many of years ago. 
