What is the Meaning of a Mother's Ring?

What is a Mother's Ring?

A mother's ring is a piece of gold or silver jewelry, normally a ring, that includes the birthstones for the birth months of the children.    

What is the Meaning of a Mother’s Ring?

A mother’s ring is a piece of emblematic jewelry that constitutes a mother’s or a grandmother’s own diverse family. The ring is accented with either one birthstone or several birthstones; the birthstones represent the children or grandchildren of the woman who is wearing the ring, who can either be living or deceased. However, some families have decided to put extra birthstones on the ring, to represent other members of the family.

The stones on the ring can either be artificially simulated stones or authentic birthstones (what we sell mainly - which is the true representation of a childs birthmonth), in order to represent the birth month of each family member on the ring. Some rings are also personalized with names inscribed on the ring, while some rings do include both the names and the birth stones on the ring.       

Why are Mother’s Rings Worn?

Mother’s rings are an extraordinary way to display pride in their family, without having to say a word. As stunning fashion accessory, mother’s rings show to the world how much her family means to the woman who is wearing the ring. Plus, the rings also prove to provide a high-end and polished look to many outfits, as the birth stones (whether they are authentic or simulated) will sparkle under any light, for years to come. Mother’s rings are a classic piece of jewelry that are never seen as gaudy or tacky and will still be a favorite piece of your mother’s jewelry for years to come.

History Behind Mother’s Rings

There are several different theories about the reason why mother’s rings began to grow popular across the world. However, there is no story that is officially set in stone. Below, you will find the three most popular mother’s rings stories that are on the Internet today.
Mother’s rings were invented by a jeweler who had figured out a way to utilize small screws with stones arranged in the screws, in order to place birthstones on top of these screws. The whole logic behind the new way of arranging the birthstones was so that in case a lady would want to wear her child’s birth month on her, as a reminder of that child. The new design allowed for a fashionable and convenient way to wear multiple stones on one ring, in order to act as a memorial ring.
The Mother’s rings would sell very well during Mother’s Day time of year, as they would be a common gift to mothers. The entire makeup of the ring would be a pretty simple complex, as the Mother’s ring would just be two wedding bands fused together by the birthstones of the sons of the couple.
On Mother’s Day around 90 years ago, Anna Jarvis from the United States developed an idea she called the Mother’s Day. Her whole reasoning for evolving the idea was to recognize her late mother with a distinctive day that was meant just for her. Anna spent many hours talking and pleading with her church leaders about the significance of being of mother on a special day in May. After founding the Mother’s Day International Association, Woodrow Wilson officially declared that the second Sunday in May was going to be the official Mother’s day and was going to be celebrated nationally. People than began to purchase gifts for their mother, like jewelry, with their children’s birthstones on the jewelry. After a few years of development, the Mother’s ring was created.

How are They Worn?

Mother’s rings are really up to the wearer, when it comes to how the ring is supposed to be worn. However, the mother’s ring is traditionally worn on the right hand ring finger. Mother’s rings are not usually stacked with other non-valuable rings. However, it is known that some women will stack their mother’s rings along with their wedding and engagement rings, as they wear the ring constantly. Other women who only wear the ring occasionally will slip it on that right hand ring finger, along with other pieces of finer jewelry. How the mother’s ring is worn is really all up to how often the mother would like to wear the ring.

How are Mother’s Rings Designed?

Mother’s rings are one of the most common types of rings that are available on the market today. As mentioned earlier in the article, these mother’s rings typically carry the children’s birthstones in the ring, but can also carry other people’s birthstones in the rings. While it is more uncommon, people who are close to the family (such as best friends) can be added to the mother’s ring.

Arrangement

There are many different ways that the mother’s ring can be arranged. Some people will arrange the birth stones on the ring by color, by gender or by age; there is no right way or wrong way to arrange the birth stones on the ring. If a mother has two children that were born in the same month, she can possibly just use one birthstone in order to represent both children; however, other mothers will choose to use matching birth stones.

Customizing

However the setup of the mother’s ring works out, there is a special process that each ring goes through while being custom made. While each company does do something a tad bit different, there is a basic process that each of them follows in order to create a satisfactory ring. Below, you will find the basic steps that are taken in order to create a basic gold mother’s ring.

Casting

The beginning proves starts with the forming gold in a casting design, with is also called blank mounting. During this process, jewelers also will select the birth stones of choice in order seat them in gold prongs, which are also known as precise notches, in order to keep the birth stones from moving anywhere. After this step is completed, the birth stones will be place each birth stone in the prong and inspect the entire ring, in order to make sure that each stone is near flawless and that there are no blemishes on the ring.

Setting

It is very common for mother’s rings to have three stones on it. However, there can be different symbolizations for the ring with the three stones. A mother’s ring with three settings on the ring can symbolize a mother with three children. The three different stones can also symbolize grandparents that are raising a child as their own; the birth stones will be the grandparents’ birth stones and the child’s birth stone. Also, the different stones can also represent a family where the mother’s and father’s birth stones are around the child’s birth stone, acting as a sign of protection.

Larger Families

If you have a larger sized family with several children and still want to purchase your mother a mother’s ring, there are rings available that can seat up to 12 birth stones. Thankfully, there are mother’s rings available on the market that are able to seat any large family setting. If your mother would not be interested in a fancy, high-end looking ring and would rather just having something that is a bit on the simplistic side, but still represents all members of your family, there is still an option that is available for her. The stackable mother’s ring is comprised of narrow bands that have the ability to stack up upon each other, all on the same finger. If you are a part of a family that is continuously growing, this is probably the best type of ring to purchase your mother, as you will always be able to add onto this mother’s ring. There is also the traditional mother’s ring, which is also serves to be a splendid grandmother’s birth stone ring.

What are the Different Materials Used in Mother’s Rings?

Depending on the type of ring that you purchase, how much you pay, where you purchase your ring from and what materials you asked to be put in your mother’s ring, there is going to be an assortment of materials put in your mother’s ring. However, some of the most common materials that are used to make up rings are gold, silver, platinum, rhodium and palladium. When it comes time to deciding what types of birth stones you want to put in the ring and where you want to place them, this requires a bit more thought and some information, which you will find below.
When it comes to fashion accessories, color is one of the most important things to consider when looking into purchasing a mother’s ring. One of the most popular colors that are found in women’s rings and marquise rings is the color white gold. White gold is where gold has been integrated with another white metal like nickel, manganese or palladium. Yellow gold has an alluring bright glow to the color, but yellow gold is common among personalized gold rings. Rose gold is combined with copper in order to create a beautiful designs. The more copper that is mixed in with the gold, the darker the hue is on the metal. Keep in mind when picking out a metal to base your mother’s ring off of, what metal will best go with her skin tone, as you would not want to pick out a ring that would make her surrounding skin look pale or sickly.
After determining what type of metal you are going to use for your mother’s ring, you are going to need to decide what types of birth stones you are going to use in the ring. There are two types of stones that jewelers will put into your mother’s ring; artificially simulated birth stones or authentic birth stones. Obviously, artificially simulated birth stones are going to be the cheaper option, as the stones have been simulated in a lab. Tthe authentic birth stones have been cut and treated in order to accent their more beautiful points and down play any natural blemishes that they may have. Authentic birth stones are the more expensive option, but they wear much better in comparison to the artificially simulated birth stones. Plus, the authentic birth stones have been cut and treated in order to accent their more beautiful points and down play any natural blemishes that they may have.
Below, you will find a chart of what month matches up with what birthstone and what color that birthstone is.

• January – Garnet – Burgundy (or a deep red)
• February – Amethyst – Purple
• March – Aquamarine – Light aqua blue
• April- Diamond- Clear
• May- Emerald – Green
• June - Alexandrite – Changes color from a red to a greenish
• July- Ruby- Red
• August- Peridot- Light Green
• September- Sapphire- Royal blue
• October- Opal- White luster
• October (2)- Pink Tourmaline – Pinkish color
• November- Precious Topaz- Golden yellow to pinkish brown
• December- Blue Zircon – Blue green color

Why You Shouldn't Purchase Mothers Rings at Chain Stores

Chain stores are not the place to go if you are interested in buying your mother a piece of (guanine, guilty jewelry). A mother’s ring is a piece of jewelry that takes a good amount of time to craft, as the piece represents an important factor of life. Chain stores do not take this time to hand craft the mother’s rings, as they just worry about finding the lowest price available. The rings that you go to look for at chain stores are going to be cheap, poorly made and poorly colored gemstones. Also, chain stores will not be able to give you any type of guarantee on your ring, as they are not using top quality materials. Plus, the materials that the chain stores are using are not certifiable. While chain store mother’s rings may be a bit cheaper, they are going to end up costing you more out of pocket cost with returns and replacements.  Here at Moriarty's Gem Art, we are a family owned retail store and online website.

What are Grandmother’s Rings?

Grandmother’s rings are the same exact thing as mother’s rings, except the representation of family. Grandmother’s rings will have birth stones for both children and grandchildren, so in the end, it may end up costing a bit more. The only reason for the difference in pricing is because there is more than likely going to be a large amount of birth stones on the grandmother’s ring than the mother’s ring. Plus, on the grandmother’s ring, in-laws can be added to the birth stone collection, too. However, mother’s rings and grandmother’s rings are virtually the same thing. If you were to purchase a mother’s ring for your grandmother and use both generations’ birth stones on the ring, there would be no issue.

Interested in Purchasing a Mother’s Ring?

At MotherFamilyRings.com, we provide a huge selection of mother’s ring and pendants, at the highest quality, all created by in-house jewelers out of our retail store in Crown Point Indiana. If you would like to speak to Steve Moriarty directly, just call us at 1-800-348-4499.