Gold Mandala Ring with Raised Border

A wide circular face is worked outward from the centre in rings of pattern and finished with a raised border of small petals around the rim. The band adjusts.

Gold Needs the Edges

A wide gold face has the opposite problem from a wide oxidised one. Blackened silver risks looking flat and dark; polished gold risks looking like a mirror, throwing one broad highlight that obliterates everything beneath it. The answer is to break the surface with as many raised edges as possible — concentric rings, beading, a petalled rim — so the single highlight is shattered into dozens of small ones. Every decision on this ring serves that purpose.

The Raised Rim

Finishing the edge with a ring of small petals rather than a plain cut does two things. It frames the pattern inside, giving the face a definite boundary instead of simply ending; and it makes the ring read as larger than it is, because the eye includes the petals in the overall diameter. It is the simplest way to add presence without adding width.

How It Fits

Adjustable at the back, so no ring size is needed. Ease it open with both hands and set it once.

How to Style It

A festival and wedding ring. It belongs with silk, gold-bordered sarees, maroon, ivory and bottle green. Wear it alone with the hand bare, and keep other jewellery gold rather than silver.

Occasion

Weddings, festivals, receptions, pujas and daytime functions.

Comfort

Moderate. Light for the width, but wide enough to be noticeable when the hand closes.

About the Gold-Tone Finish

This is brass with a gold-tone plating rather than solid gold, which is what keeps the price where it is. Plating is a surface rather than a bulk property, so how long it lasts depends almost entirely on what it meets. Rings have a harder life than earrings — hands are washed, knocked and creamed all day — so a gold-plated ring will show wear sooner than a gold-plated earring will. Taking it off before washing your hands makes more difference than anything else you can do.

Care

Put it on after hand cream, perfume and sanitiser, and take it off before washing up, swimming or sleeping. Wipe with a dry soft cloth after wearing. Never use silver polish, dip cleaners, bleach or an ultrasonic cleaner. Store it dry in a pouch rather than loose, so it cannot rub against other rings.

Product Details

Type: Adjustable mandala statement ring. Metal: Brass. Finish: Gold-tone plating. Work: Concentric worked rings with a raised petalled border. Fit: Adjustable, open band.

Fit and adjustment

Set the band once rather than adjusting it every time. Metal work-hardens: each flex makes the same spot a little more brittle, and a band that has been opened and closed a hundred times will eventually crack at the overlap rather than bend. Size it to the finger you actually wear it on and leave it alone.

A piece at this price is bought to be worn rather than kept. The sensible way to judge it is by how often it will leave the box, not by what it would fetch if it never did.