Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette!
Today's video is all about rings; we discuss what ring works well on what
finger, the symbolic meaning of each finger, as well as the history behind it
and rules to wearing multiple rings at the same time. Women have enjoyed wearing
rings throughout decades, for men, it has been a little bit outdated in the last
few years but recently, they've come back into fashion and so men wear rings again.
Now, it's not always clear what statement you're sending when you're wearing your
ring on your thumb or your index finger but as you may have noticed, I'm a big fan of
rings and I wear them all the time so it's a topic dear to my heart. My
fascination with men's rings actually started in 2015 when I was in Berlin,
Germany. At the flea market, I spotted this malachite sterling silver ring
which cost just 10 euros and I liked the look of it and that started it all
for me. So what do rings on different fingers mean? First of all, let's start
with the ring finger. Interestingly, before medical science was established,
people thought that there was a direct vein from your ring finger to your heart,
it was called the vena amoris or the vein of love. Because of that, it was the
natural finger to wear a wedding ring on. Now that being said, wedding rings on the
ring finger haven't actually been super popular until sometimes in the mid 20th
century. Western men going to war in the early 20th century often had a ring that
made them think about their loved ones at home. As such, wedding rings became more and more popular as it became more affordable for
people to buy rings. Nowadays, a married man going without a ring may elicit
suspicion in the right circumstances. I was at a bar the other day, I saw a
man sitting there discretely removing his ring and putting it in his jacket
pocket when he noticed that there was attractive one sitting right next to him.
Ironically, he had a tan line on his ring finger so it was still quite obvious and
women often look on the hand of a man to determine very quickly if they're
married or not. Wedding rings are traditional in all parts of the world,
however, traditionally, wedding bands are more in the simpler side and more elaborate
rings are typically not a wedding ring but they could be the engagement ring
for women which is not something that is worn by men. So what hand should you wear
your wedding ring on? Well, it depends on the culture. For example, in the former
British Empire in the US and in certain countries in Europe, it is worn on your
left ring finger. On the other hand, in more southern and eastern European countries
in south and in central America, the wedding band for men is originally worn
on the right hand. For example, in Germany where I'm originally from, men would wear their
wedding band on the left hand while they were engaged and then they would switch it
to the right hand once they got married. While that was a traditional rule and
probably in the 1950s, every man would abide by it, today, I think they've relaxed a
little more and some would wear it on their left hand. Since
I live in the US now, I wear a wedding band on a left hand because that's the
traditional way to wear it. Of course, if you're not married, you can also wear
rings on your ring finger that could be something with a stone, it could be
something like a signet ring, even though they're more traditionally worn on your
pinky finger. Which brings us to our next finger. The word pinky is derived from
the Dutch word pink which means as much as little finger. The earliest recorded
use of the term pinky goes back to Scotland in the year 1808. Wearing a pinky
ring for men has a long history of symbolism. For example, in Victorian times,
men including Prince Albert would wear their wedding band on their pinky ring.
Sometimes, it was also stacked underneath their signet ring which was also worn on
their pinky finger. On the other hand, in the US, pinky rings were sometimes
associated with criminals and thugs. For example, if you watch the movie "The
Godfather", you can see them wear pinky rings. Today, pinky rings are worn by all
sorts of men in the US and the symbolic meaning is
most limited to a few things. Professional rings, for example, in
engineering is usually worn on the pinky finger. Of course, the pinky is also the
chosen finger for a signet ring and you can see many famous men today still wear
them. Prince Charles, for example, wears his pinky
ring stacked with his wedding band. Americans adapted to that
tradition in homage to the British. For example, FDR wore it in the same fashion
and to learn more about pinky rings please check out this guide and if you
want to learn more about Signet rings this video is right for you. Next up is
the middle finger, also known as the long or the tall finger. It's most well known
for the obvious gesture you can make with it and because of that, very few men
choose to wear a ring on this finger. If you ever put a ring on your middle
finger, you can notice that it gets in the way of things and it feels odd on
your hand. A ring located at the center of the hand is said to symbolize
responsibility and balance. Wearing a ring on your middle finger is a very
bold choice that gets you noticed and maybe it can even be a conversation
starter. Personally, I don't like the look of it and I don't like the feel and
because of that, I don't wear one. Next up is the index finger,
also known as a trigger finger or pointer finger.
It's a most dominant finger, only second to the thumb and because of that, it
symbolizes power or authority and leadership, maybe even more so than
the middle finger. If you want your ring to get noticed, wear it on your index
finger. For many men, the index finger is the biggest which often means you need a
bigger ring so it looks proportional.When my daughter plays with my ring collection,
she often puts it on her index finger, of course, it's way too big and it's more
play than anything else for her. Personally, I'm not a big fan of the look
of a ring on my index finger. It also gets in the way of things. Clever, if you
look at older pictures of powerful men, they often wore rings on their index
finger. Now last but not least is the thumb. It is probably your most used
finger and it's usually associated with softer gestures such as the thumbs up
which are less harsh as the index finger where we
point at things. In my experience, the thumb is the key to any kind of a grip
position so having a ring really restricts your movement and it's just
awkward. Probably because of its impracticality, wearing a ring on your
thumb symbolizes wealth and influence because you don't have to do any
practical work with it. In my opinion, it's definitely the boldest choice you can
make for a ring and your thumb is quite thick so you need something substantial
that still allows you to move your hand. Because of that, it's most typically
chosen in a fashion setting. That being said, there are different ring cultures
around the globe. So wearing a single ring is easy but what about putting
multiple rings? Should you wear it together? How many rings should you wear?
Should they be next to each other or not? What colors should they have? These are
all questions that are a little more tricky to answer. First of all, how many
rings can you wear? The simple answer is that's up to you. There have been men
who've worn rings on every finger, sometimes even stacked on the same
finger. Others wear six rings or four. Personally, I'm a big believer in less is
more and so I usually go for one or two rings maximum. Typically, I have my gold
wedding band on the left hand and then I combine it with a gold, rose
gold, or silver ring on my right hand. Typically, they are worn on my pinky finger or
on the ring finger. Now, someone who wears a lot of rings at the same time is the
English author and dandy, Nick Foulkes
and I think it works really well with his
eccentric style, however, it wouldn't work for me. Now someone may wonder, isn't
wearing rings effeminate? In fact, it isn't! Yes, women wear rings but also men
have been wearing rings historically, especially men in power, so if you as a
man wear a ring today, it's not effeminate at all. It is actually very
manly. Just think of the Pope, for example, who has a lot of influence and he always
wore rings. Honestly, I suggest you just wear what feels right to you and make
sense. For example, my dad used to work as a surgical assistant at a hospital and
so he would always wear latex gloves because of that, wearing rings was
inconvenient in work so he wouldn't wear them during the week.
Now if you wear more than one ring, should you mix and match your metals? Personally,
I think it looks best if everything is matched. That being said, it never keeps
me from wearing the rings I like. My wedding ring, for example, is gold and I
never exchange it, it would be too bothersome for me to get a second wedding band in
silver or maybe a third one in rose gold so I always stick with my gold wedding
band and then I just choose the ring I like that maybe works with my cufflinks
and overall, it creates a harmonious look. What about wearing two or more rings in
the same hand? The most traditional way is probably to stack your wedding band
and your pinky ring all on your pinky finger. Now what if you want to wear
rings right next to each other, let's say on your pinky and your ring finger?
Personally, I'm not a big fan because the metal touches and it just feels awkward
on my hand. A classic traditional safe way for men to wear rings is to have a
single one on your ring finger. If you want to add two, you can put it on a
different hand, either on your pinky or on your ring finger
or you can stack them on your pinky. At the end of the day, it's each to his own
but now I'm curious to learn how you wear your rings how many you wear
what finger you wear them on and if you mix and match metals and stones or not.
So in today's video I'm wearing an outfit which would also be characterized
as a Rhapsody in Blue it's built around my blue stone ring and
that color of the stone picks up one of the stripes in my jacket otherwise
there's a navy and a medium blue stripe my shirt is a light blue twill
my tie is a blue and brown silk knit tie from Fort Belvedere just like the
silk pocket square in light blue with dark blue Paisleys both of which you
can find in our shop here my cufflinks I chose rose gold monkey fist
cufflinks that are very harmonious with my ring because it's the same metal
color and it also matches my belt buckle I'm combining it with pale blue chinos
and dark suede blue boots of course the belt is also blue and matches the color
of my shoes and it's fabric with brown leather and a go;d buckle
if you enjoyed this video want to learn more about men's rings definitely
head over to our pinky ring guide and our signet ring guide
just before i stopped attending the kh completely an elder dropped in and asked me about my rings. they are wedding and three other silver rings.
In respect to the video I wear them because I like them I have none of the knowledge espoused in the video.
For outsiders to the wt note the following.
For him to ask me about them as he happened (!) to drop in means the elders at a formal elders meeting had
This is the degree by which the rank and file of jw are micro managed.
Nothing better to do! So sad, so glad to be FREE!
Rings on any person mean whatever the weather wants them to mean.
Unless you can show the GB subscribe to the theories in the video then this is conjecture at best.