Unveiling the Mystery: The Symbolism Behind Iconic Jewelry Pieces
Jewelry has always carried meaning beyond its material. Long before people wore gold for its value, they wore specific shapes for what those shapes represented — protection, love, rebirth, memory. Some of those symbols have been in circulation for thousands of years. Others emerged more recently but tapped into something older.
Here are nine of the most enduring, and what they've meant to the people who've worn them.
The Claddagh
Originating in the fishing village of Claddagh, Ireland in the 17th century, this ring depicts two hands holding a crowned heart. Each element carries meaning: the hands represent friendship, the heart represents love, and the crown represents loyalty. How you wear it communicates relationship status — on the right hand with the heart facing outward means you're single; heart facing inward means your heart is taken. On the left hand, it signals engagement or marriage.
The Claddagh is one of the most recognized symbols of Irish identity worldwide, and remains one of our most requested custom designs.
The Ouroboros
The snake eating its own tail appears in ancient Egyptian iconography, Greek mythology, Norse cosmology, and alchemical texts. It represents the eternal cycle — life feeding on itself, death becoming renewal, time without beginning or end.
As jewelry, the Ouroboros tends to attract people who think in long timescales: those interested in philosophy, nature, or the idea that everything returns. It's a design that rewards a second look.
The Skull
The skull in jewelry has meant different things in different eras. In the memento mori tradition of 16th-century Europe, skulls were worn to remind the wearer that life is finite — not as a morbid statement, but as encouragement to live fully. In later centuries, skulls were adopted by sailors, pirates, and eventually subcultures as symbols of danger, independence, and fearlessness.
Today they're worn for all of these reasons and more. A skull ring or pendant tends to be chosen by people who want jewelry with edge — something that communicates something about who they are.
The Eye of Horus
From ancient Egypt, the Eye of Horus (also called the Wedjat) was a symbol of protection, health, and royal power. Horus, the falcon-headed god, lost his eye in battle and had it restored — so the eye became associated with healing and restoration as well.
Worn as an amulet for thousands of years, it remains one of the most recognized protective symbols in the world. People choose it today for both its aesthetic — a striking, stylized eye with distinctive markings — and its long history as a ward against harm.
The Phoenix
The mythological bird that burns and is reborn from its own ashes appears in ancient Greek, Egyptian, Chinese, and Roman traditions. It has always represented transformation, resilience, and the ability to emerge from destruction stronger than before.
Phoenix jewelry tends to find the people who need it: those who have come through something difficult and want to mark the other side of it.
The Evil Eye
The belief that an envious look from another person can cause misfortune appears in cultures from the Mediterranean to the Middle East to South Asia. The Evil Eye charm — a blue and white concentric circle design — is worn to deflect that negative energy.
It's one of the oldest protective amulets still in active use, and its distinctive blue color has made it a recognizable presence in modern jewelry collections worldwide.
The Serpent
Snakes carry contradictory symbolism across cultures. In some traditions they represent danger and deception; in others, wisdom, healing (the caduceus of medicine), and renewal — because they shed their skin and appear to be reborn. Ancient Greek rings featured coiled serpents. Victorian mourning jewelry used serpent motifs to symbolize eternal love.
In contemporary jewelry, the serpent is most often associated with transformation, knowledge, and feminine power.
The Anchor
A practical symbol that became metaphorical: the anchor keeps a vessel in place, so it came to represent stability, groundedness, and steadfast hope. It was widely used in early Christian iconography as a covert symbol of the cross, and has remained a popular maritime and nautical motif ever since.
Anchor jewelry is often chosen by people who want something that communicates reliability — for themselves or as a gift to someone who has been that anchor for them.
The Infinity Symbol
The lemniscate — a figure-eight on its side — was adopted as the mathematical symbol for infinity in the 17th century, and found its way into jewelry as a symbol of endless love, eternal connection, and boundless possibility.
It's a common choice for couples, for memorial pieces, and for anyone who wants jewelry that speaks to an unbroken bond. Simple, clean, and unmistakable in meaning.
Every piece we make that incorporates these symbols is made with the understanding that it carries more than metal. If there's a symbol that holds meaning for you — one on this list or otherwise — we'd be glad to build something around it.