What does a snake ring mean in Victorian jewelry?

Eternal love. A snake biting or swallowing its own tail forms an unbroken circle, and the motif became especially fashionable after Prince Albert gave Queen Victoria a snake engagement ring in 1839.

What is acrostic jewelry?

Jewelry set with gemstones chosen so that the first letter of each stone's name spells a word, most often REGARD or DEAREST. The fashion began in early 19th century France and became popular across Europe through the Victorian period.

What does the Claddagh symbol mean?

A hand holding a heart topped with a crown, an Irish motif representing love, loyalty and friendship. It is traditionally worn with the heart facing inward to show the wearer's heart is already given.

Why is so much Victorian jewelry black?

Mourning customs called for jet, black enamel or onyx during periods of grief, often personalized with a name, a date, or a lock of the deceased's hair. It was worn openly as a visible mark of respect rather than kept private.

What does a forget-me-not flower mean in antique jewelry?

Remembrance. The small blue flower was a common Victorian motif drawn from the same symbolic vocabulary as the language of flowers, used to ask that the giver, or someone who had died, not be forgotten.

Glossary

The visual language of vintage jewelry

Snakes, hands, crescents and forget-me-nots: what antique motifs were meant to say, and who wore them.

Written by our in-house jewelry team · Updated August 7, 2026 · 8 min read

Victorian yellow gold locket and seed pearls on aged linen with old letters — The visual language of vintage jewelry

In short

Vintage jewelry motifs carried agreed meanings: a snake for eternal love, clasped hands for friendship, a forget-me-not for remembrance, ivy for fidelity, a crescent moon for a growing love, and black enamel or jet for mourning, with acrostic gemstone settings spelling words such as REGARD directly into a piece.

Antique jewelry was a language before it was decoration. A snake, a pair of clasped hands, or a small blue flower could say something a Victorian wearer would never have said aloud, and the people around them would have read it correctly.

This guide walks through the motifs we see most often on the pieces that come through our workshop, what each one meant, and roughly when it was in fashion.

Shop the pieces: Victorian, curated and available now.

Love, faith and friendship

Before it was fashionable to say things outright, jewelry said them instead. A motif could offer friendship, declare love, or promise something more lasting, and it was read as clearly then as a written note.

The snake swallowing its own tail, an ouroboros, was the strongest of these symbols: a circle with no beginning or end, meaning eternal love. It became especially fashionable after Prince Albert gave Queen Victoria a snake engagement ring in 1839, and snake rings and bracelets remained popular through the Victorian period.

Clasped hands, called fede motifs, symbolized friendship or a union between two people, and appear on rings from the Georgian period onward. A hand holding a single flower carried a gentler meaning again, offering friendship rather than a full commitment.

The Claddagh, a hand holding a heart topped with a crown, is an Irish motif dating back to at least the 17th century, representing love, loyalty and friendship together. It is traditionally worn with the heart pointing toward the wearer to show the heart is taken.

The lover's knot, an interlaced loop with no visible end, symbolized a bond that could not be undone, and appears across many periods rather than belonging to one.

Nature as sentiment

Victorian jewelers, especially in the Romantic period from 1837 to 1860, drew heavily on flowers and plants because each one carried an agreed meaning, much like the language of flowers used in gift bouquets of the same era.

The forget-me-not, a small five-petaled blue flower, meant exactly what its name says: remembrance, and a request not to be forgotten. Ivy, which clings and stays green year round, stood for fidelity and lasting attachment. The crescent moon suggested a love that was still growing, while a star nearby stood for constancy and guidance, and the two together, crescent and star, are also a much older and separate symbol used in Ottoman and Islamic decorative arts.

Mourning and remembrance

Death was a visible part of Victorian life, and jewelry followed strict, understood conventions for grief. Jet, black enamel and onyx were worn during mourning, often engraved with a name and a date, and sometimes containing a woven lock of the deceased's hair sealed under glass.

These pieces were not hidden away. Mourning jewelry was worn openly as a sign of respect and remembrance, and the strict etiquette around who wore what, and for how long, eased considerably after the end of the Victorian period.

Strand of vintage pearls and a pearl ring resting on cream silk — Glossary — from the pieces and workshop notes behind this guide.

Words hidden in stones

Acrostic jewelry spells out a word using the first letter of each gemstone's name, set in order. REGARD is spelled with ruby, emerald, garnet, amethyst, ruby and diamond. DEAREST uses diamond, emerald, amethyst, ruby, emerald, sapphire and topaz. The fashion began in France in the early 19th century and spread to Britain and beyond, and it remains one of the most personal forms of antique jewelry because the sentiment is literally built into the piece.

Emblems and heraldry

Some motifs are about identity and belonging rather than sentiment. The fleur-de-lis, a stylized lily, has been used as a French royal and heraldic emblem for centuries and continued to appear in jewelry long after its royal associations faded into pure decoration.

The buckle or garter motif, a belt clasped or a garter tied, symbolized loyalty and an unbreakable bond, and was a favorite Victorian and Edwardian brooch shape. Cameos, carved reliefs usually showing a profile portrait cut from shell, hardstone or coral, were worn partly as adornment and partly to reference classical antiquity, a taste that ran through the Georgian, Victorian and Grand Tour eras.

Frequently asked questions

What does a snake ring mean in Victorian jewelry?: Eternal love. A snake biting or swallowing its own tail forms an unbroken circle, and the motif became especially fashionable after Prince Albert gave Queen Victoria a snake engagement ring in 1839.
What is acrostic jewelry?: Jewelry set with gemstones chosen so that the first letter of each stone's name spells a word, most often REGARD or DEAREST. The fashion began in early 19th century France and became popular across Europe through the Victorian period.
What does the Claddagh symbol mean?: A hand holding a heart topped with a crown, an Irish motif representing love, loyalty and friendship. It is traditionally worn with the heart facing inward to show the wearer's heart is already given.
Why is so much Victorian jewelry black?: Mourning customs called for jet, black enamel or onyx during periods of grief, often personalized with a name, a date, or a lock of the deceased's hair. It was worn openly as a visible mark of respect rather than kept private.
What does a forget-me-not flower mean in antique jewelry?: Remembrance. The small blue flower was a common Victorian motif drawn from the same symbolic vocabulary as the language of flowers, used to ask that the giver, or someone who had died, not be forgotten.

Written by our estate jewelry team and reviewed by our in-house gemologist. We have been buying and selling European antique jewelry since 1973.

From the reading to the piece