Designer Jewelry Gems

A knot motif is historically used in Celtic wedding rings design to symbolize the intertwining of two lives in matrimony. If you and your partner are considering using a design of Celtic origin to symbolize your union, you might want to know where the design comes from. The word Celts is used to identify a group of peoples united by their use of a set of related languages of Indo-European origin.

While it was once believed that Celts shared a common tribal source, more recent archaeological evidence indicates the Celtic culture was spread through the conquering of and trade with different cultures. There is no common ancestral heritage to the many branches of Celtic culture, and which of the cultures came first is lost in the long-gone annals of prehistory.

The term “Celtic art,” which includes Celtic jewelry, refers to stylistic similarities between artifacts of different cultures that suggest a prehistoric relationship to those who spoke the “Proto-Celtic” language. In modern terms, it refers to 18th century Celtic revival art, which was an expression of the desire of contemporary Celts in the British Isles to distinguish themselves from the Anglo-Saxon roots of the English.

Celtic art is primarily ornamental, making it well suited to jewelry. In this it has more in common with Arabic art than with the representational art of the classical tradition. Unlike Arabic art, however, Celtic art avoids straight lines and employs symmetry only sparingly.

A recurrent theme in Celtic art is the knot, and it is around this symbol that most Celtic wedding rings are designed. There are a variety of Celtic knots.The symbolism of the knot includes bonding or joining and this makes it ideal for use in wedding band design.

There are some beautiful three dimensional Celtic wedding rings available. These designs do not have the traditional flat band with solid, even edges. The band is formed by the loops of the featured knot pattern, with open spaces captured within the design. A variation on this is two solid ring edges serving as a frame for a graceful flow of rope-like metal capturing open space within the design.

Ring edging is also an area in which Celtic knot motifs allow the designer exceptional freedom. Because the underlying theme is that of a rope, it is not necessary for there to be any edge to the band at all, other than that provided by the knot pattern itself. In many ways, Celtic wedding rings are one of last artistic expressions of intricate metal work. The filigree of the Victorian era has a dated look compared to the graceful, long curves of modern Celtic design. The filigree of Celtic knot designs surpasses the temporal limitations of fashion.