At first glance, Hidden Messages: Passport Edition, Seal & Scribe’s petite new collection of rings named for famous French and Italian Riviera resort towns, appears to be just that: a palmful of pretty gemstone pieces inspired by the area’s most famous destinations (or the joys of travel in general).Seal & Scribe owner Shari Cohen says she arrived at these designs via a circuitous route. The journey, says the San Diego–based designer, began with a hunt for colored gemstones for a future collection of some kind, its concept yet to be determined.
Sourcing the gems from her usual suppliers and bench jewelers was almost like gathering flowers for a bouquet at random, she says: “That’s how I work—it’s very intuitive.”
In other words, the design concept often comes to her later, after she’s had a moment to ponder the possibilities and spend some time with her materials. (“It’s not a conscious thing a lot of the time,” Cohen says.)
But soon, a clear color story began to emerge from her stone selections: The palette echoed the coves, beaches, sunsets, and cliffside homes one sees on the French and Italian Riviera.
And from there, Cohen found the basis for her theme, connecting the center stone of each ring to one of five glamorous coastal destinations. The Saint-Tropez ring has “fantastic coral,” she says; Cannes holds a silky, light-filtering Mojave chalcedony; Portofino uses a dreamy chrysoprase; Capri has a vibrant turquoise; and Monaco’s stone is a “liquid, watery, translucent aquamarine.”
The stones, all cabochons, lent themselves naturally to luxe 18k gold versions of the modified signet rings that typify Seal & Scribe’s core collection—which is made with colorful antique glass seals and intaglios that bear messages and mottos.
“I wanted to push myself to show people that I can make really beautiful jewelry that isn’t seal-forward, if you will,” says Cohen. The stones dictated the look overall, inspiring “something that was lush, soft, and round, like a woman’s body, very feminine, voluptuous, and sort of biomorphic.”
But this jewelry couldn’t be a complete departure from Seal & Scribe’s usual work. To ensure that her brand’s DNA was present in the designs, Cohen hid a message—either hand-engraved or revealed on the imprint of a seal cast in metal—in the under gallery of each ring. All the inscriptions came directly from her existing stash of hundreds of seals or are ones she has used previously.
Deciding on these messages added a poetic layer to the design process, Cohen says, and she choose words that encapsulate the spirit of each locale. The Portofino ring, with its la dolce vita vibes, features the phrase “Live life to the fullest” in Latin. The image of a lion decorating the underside of the Capri ring is surrounded by a French phrase that translates to “The strongest can be frightened of nothing.”
“To me this is a power ring,” Cohen says of the Capri. She also envisioned it as a protective talisman, adding shield-cut diamonds to the ring’s shoulders to drive the point home.
Clearly, deconstructing the elements of this small but mighty collection reveals so much more than a resort town’s ambience and colors. Because somehow the rings transport you far beyond the city limits to a world of secret, personal thoughts, dreams, and intentions.
As Cohen says, “You can choose as the wearer to share the hidden message with other people when they ask you about your jewelry, or you can choose to keep it private, but the idea is it’s a message that’s there for you and you alone.
Top: One of Seal & Scribe’s collectors snatched up the Saint- Tropez (with 5.95 ct. coral center stone, 0.14 ct. t.w. diamonds, and turquoise polka dots) soon after the ring was finished. The coral alludes to the storied Cote D’Azur town’s many terra cotta cliffs and buildings, says Shari Cohen.
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