Which finger should you wear your signet ring on?

The signet ring is a jewel of very ancient origin, historically used by both women and men of the nobility, while today the signet ring can be worn by everyone, especially when it is made of solid silver.

It is one of the rare jewels that had a practical and useful function, since it served as proof of identification, like today’s digital signatures, to sign letters and legal documents (marriage, inheritance, etc.) with a wax seal.

Yellow gold signet ring for men from the Vivalatina collection

If the use of the signet ring responds to today’s aesthetics and fashion, precise rules governed the use of signet rings by nobles during the Middle Ages.

The use of the signet ring changes depending on the country, gender and time.

Here’s how to get there, starting with a review of the fingers 🙂

Discover our different creations of men’s signet rings here

Consult our creation service to find out the price for making a signet ring with your coat of arms

Which finger to choose for your signet ring?

Wearing a signet ring is a tradition of European nobility. If the rules vary depending on time and country and nowadays everyone tends to do as they want, it is good to know the historical customs and customs of wearing the signet ring in these few countries:

In France

The rules of the French nobility are:

• Women wear the signet ring on their right little finger
• Men (cadets and younger) wear the signet ring on their right little finger
• The older men in their family wear the signet ring on their left ring finger, thus with their wedding ring.

For women the signet ring can be worn in two ways depending on whether they are married or not:

• in the kissing hand: the engraved pattern of the signet ring faces the nail, a sign that the person is free
• in battle: the engraved motif faces the wearer, a sign that she is engaged in a relationship

To find out more about the codes of the French nobility, this radio broadcast on RCF will seem very interesting to you.

In England

In the United Kingdom the signet ring is generally worn on the left little finger. Since kingship has not been abolished across the Channel, it is common to see photos of English princes in Poeple magazines showing them wearing their engraved signet rings with arms on their fingers, as in the case of Prince Charles below.

Prince Charles wears his signet ring on his left little finger

In Switzerland

In Switzerland the signet ring is worn on the left ring finger. I admit that I have no further information on wearing a signet ring in this country. If you ever have any, feel free to share your knowledge in the comments, I will then take care of updating this article.

In Belgium

In Belgium, the signet ring is worn on the left little finger, for both men and women.

Here are some examples of men’s signet rings worn on the little finger.

An explicit summary video

The history of the use of the signet ring dates back to Roman antiquity (perhaps even further) and the codification remained following the fall of the Roman Empire among the peoples who then inherited this use.

As we can see, the signet ring in the nobility is mainly worn on the little finger (with the exception of older brothers), since the signet ring was historically used to seal documents, it was more practical to wear it on this finger.

Today, outside of the nobility, everyone is free to wear it on the finger they prefer. With the exception of descendants of noble families, everyone is free to choose the model of their signet ring and to create the family coat of arms that best suits them.

Example of ours signet ring seal of the Templars worn on the ring finger

Discover below some examples of men’s signet ring models made in our laboratory, whether they are of our own design or made to measure according to the indications of our customers:

To go further: