{Claddagh Rings Are Among the Best Collectible Jewelry

Collecting jewelry can be a productive way to spend your free time and money. At the same time, if you have good taste, your collection can appreciate in value beyond your imagination as the years go by. Much depends on how well you picked the items you chose to include in the collection and on how affordably you purchased them. Among the antique jewelry items that are good buys are Claddagh rings which were crafted hundreds of years ago.

Whence the first Claddagh ring

Nothing certain is known about the origins of the ring. Some believe the first ring to have been made by Richard Joyce, an Irishman who had been held captive and subsequently sold as a slave to a rich jeweler in Algeria. His master, seeing his ability, taught him the finest skills of jewelry making. Joyce later returned to Galway City in Ireland after having been released by his master. There he practiced the trade he had learned and made the first Claddagh rings. The ones that still exist today bear his initials. More incredible accounts tell of the Claddagh ring having been dropped from its beak by an eagle. The ring fell into the lap of a wealthy and charitable lady in return for all her good works. As to why this ring which was supposed to have originated from Galway came to be known as the Claddagh ring, the explanation offered is startlingly simple. A British publication in 1850 featured a picture of the ring alongside a write-up on the fishing community of Claddagh. The label on the write-up was mistaken for the name of the ring.

Whatever the truth may be, the fact remains that the oldest and most expensive antique Claddagh rings are engraved with the RJ.

Claddagh rings are a rich resource for antique jewelry collectors

Between and 17th century and today, hundreds of Claddagh rings have been crafted due to the immense popularity of its symbolism for people seeking enduring love. It was widely used as wedding rings and handed down from one generation to the next. Many families still have their heirloom pieces from two generations back. Not a few of them have been lost but many still manage to pop up in flea markets and alley shops. Collectors who spot Claddagh rings with the initials RJ engraved are lucky to be looking at one of the original rings.

How to tell a Claddagh ring when you see one

The Claddagh ring is typified by a heart on top of which sits a crown. Both heart and crown are held by a pair of hands in a gesture of offering. The heart naturally symbolizes love. The crown which is offered along with the heart is a gesture of allegiance or loyalty (as when one offers the crown to a king). The act of offering stands for friendship and all the three symbols combined embody what friendship and love is all about.

Plainly, the Claddagh ring belongs in the best antique jewelry collections because of its history and its meaning.
Doc. No:1206-LM-ULT5-dc11