Skull rings are great to find and collect.. Every once in a while you'll see one with 'Gem' eyes.. 99% they are just glass..Usually red..

The ring itself was made to accept the gems. Sometimes a jeweler will put the gems in not ready to accept rings. A professional will do a nice neat job at least equal to the ready to accept ring..

Saw this on a auction. A fake thru and thru. Whats good to learn is,,,this is what you do not want to see on a Skull with gem eyes!! Probably the worst that I've seen ever! be careful as there are some real rings with recent professional set eyes...

IF in doubt you can always post here. Not always possible to distinguish if the right glass used so again always be careful..

Man that is one hideous ring!

yes thats a nasty one for sure..


OK, as far as stones/Gems/glass what you do want to see is a old cut [shape]... 20s,30s,40s they did not have the cuts we have today. These rings were inexpensive. You usually got glass as mentioned and was of a early , easy cut..

Some simply have a Cabochon. .. A smooth round shape..

The other seen cut/shape was these, rose cut, eight corner cut etc.:

Simple, easy to produce, looks good set.

So IF you see a fancy cut , design, shape I'd say a fake gem put in. BUT, having a early gem in your skull is not a 100% surety its authentic put in during the period! Go to any rock & gem show, flea market, 'boot sale', bazaar and with a bit of luck you can pick these up restively inexpensive..

I know ring collectors that pay a premium for gem eyes. Some just the opposite claim they could have been put in at any time.. Both are right.
IF you like the gem eyes stick to the simple, well done eyes and have some faith!

Thanks Gaspare for posting this ring and the gemstones .



Here is a ring that has also gemstones....it will not be diamonds ,

The ring is molded and has also a weak stamp; molded fake?.

it could be an imitation of Russian Memento Mori ?

Benten,,, yes that was probably originally a 2 piece ring.. The band and a skull . The band has the 3 crimps to hold the skull in to band. Then it might have been used for a model and cast .

Yes I agree, most of the time for a M.M. ring as the few are given away to friends of the deceased...

Definitely a nice looking piece, a great wearer! [good job ob the eyes too!]

Gaspare , it is not quite clear to me ........Is it an authentic ring , one of a group of rings given to friends of the deceased: a group of quickly molded rings to give away ................or............... just an imitation of it ?

its not the original because it one piece cast. , and yes it can be confusing!

It used to work a few different ways.
One was - A family member or best friend commissions a jeweler to make up a ring. Then uses that ring as the model and more are made/given usually for the male friends/family. This was a expensive ...

Another was a Jeweler already had a few different models to choose from and lets say 10 or so already cast rings. The mourner would pick out the pattern they liked and buy the 10 or so rings to give out to the closest family, friends, business partners.

There are some who insist that they always engraved the death date and name in ring.. This is not true as some years ago I saw a MM ring collection in Vienna and many did not have dates / names. Some also insist that a MM ring is different than a 'Mourning Ring'.. They are the same to me basically..

There is this collection that I have seen also:

https://hyperallergic.com/223453/the-meaning-of-the-ring-from-memento-mori-to-marriage/



- SO, wish I could be more precise with yours. The ring looks pretty nice it could be the 'one of a group of rings given to friends of the deceased: a group of quickly molded rings to give away ' . Looks like a crucifix on the sides of yours!

Images of some:

https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0geJaHaZWJfftUADztXNyoA;_ylu=Y29sbwNiZjEEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3BpdnM-?p=memento+mori+ring&fr2=piv-web&fr=mcafee&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9zZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tL3NlYXJjaD9mcj1tY2FmZWUmdHlwZT1FMjExVVM2NjJHMCZwPW1lbWVudG8rbW9yaStyaW5n&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAADTnmBekn25SJDMdhwd5y4NnB8xPnI8pVRtEpasOKbORw5pVgYK7DPiuSvM7z5i3E0B5pGUjbrtBrP1niK4zknn2n--OKi2RWqWp_v1pLalvI8nkxlYor5Sak22yLaNSaaAPr5ESaQxDBlKItg6j1qYXZ0xGQ6yVtKsMKpe2IQgA&_guc_consent_skip=1600284156

Gaspare, I agree, it is very difficult to determinate exactly this ring . Yes, the cross aside points at Christianity. Above and under the cross are styled flowers /tree- leaves .

Thank you for your info !

From checking around it seems most Skulls with Eye are add on and thankfully badly done.

Here's another. A gold fake , marked 585, and with poorly added in eyes.

But still interesting ! I like decorative technic the eyes are made.

I found my tiny box of 'eyes'... When I was a teenager I just would throw my rings in a box to rattle around. I've actually lost eyes out of the rings! Over the years I've saved them,,found others. Even stumbled on a box of unused WW red glass for cartouche's...