The intricate beauty of gothic rings mesmerizes and hypnotize. They have a stunning look and even more stunning significance. They are more than trinkets to wear once and forget about for good. But what are Gothic rings exactly? The answer is to be found in this post.
Hundreds of Years of History
Gothic art occurred in the Middle ages, i.e. around 500 years ago. At first, Gothic influenced architecture, especially churches and cathedrals. However, these majestic buildings couldn’t hold Gothic back, and this style soon spread across fashion and jewelry. Elongated pointed shapes reminiscent of the spires of divine palaces, openwork details, multi-colored precious stone inlaid looking like stained glass – all these elements Gothic fashion inherited from architecture. Inside, Gothic cathedrals were adorned with the intricate beauty of gothic stucco molding showcasing intertwining branches and flowers. These floral patterns soon became a recurring motif in Gothic. Today, they delight with their elegance and delicacy, but several centuries ago, floral patterns were known for strong religious significance.
Thorny plants, for example, symbolized the suffering of Jesus and his atonement for human sins. The lily, otherwise known as the flower of the Virgin Mary, shows innocence, purity, and modesty. Rose stands for divine grace, and if its color is red, it becomes a symbol of passion, the blood of Christ, and his wounds.
Despite the fact that Gothic swept Europe in the Middle Ages, its age was short-lived. Soon it was replaced by other styles, and no one remembered Gothic until the Victorian era. However, at the end of the 19th century, people turned to Gothic again with all its intricate beauty of gothic designs, majestic images, and rich ornamentation. Jewelry made in this period became even more luxurious and exquisite. It riddled with precious stones, offered to admire wondrous enamel, and showed off precious metals bent and forged into breathtaking bizarre shapes. Despite its allure, the period of Gothic revival was just a splash and fashion forgot about this style until the 1980s.
The Goth Subculture
The subculture originated at the end of the 20th century took the elements of Neo-Gothic, transformed them, and offered something completely different. Jewelry of Goths is symbolism wrapped in mysticism and worship of otherworldly spirits. Often, this worship is only nominal because Goths do not practice black magic or occultism; they only use mysterious visuals such as pentagrams, crosses, ankhs, skulls, bats, etc.
While the Gothic style of fashion has more or less definite features, the subculture is not so easy to describe. It is true that the majority of Goths wear black clothes and jewelry in silvery finishes, but at the same time, there are trends called Pastel and White Goths that lean to light colors. Or let’s take occult symbolism, it is common among the Traditional Goths, Vampire Goths, Pagan Goth, and some other, less numerous offshoots. In contrast, Romantic and Antique Goths prefer outfits and jewelry inspired by Victorian Gothic.
Be that as it may, Goths and Gothic are related terms. They are not interchangeable but the fashion style and the subculture have a lot in common.
Features of Gothic and Goth’s Jewelry
Whether you talk about Gothic jewelry or products for the Goth subculture, you imply something like this:
- Items made of silver.
Although Gothic does not shy away from gold, it prefers silver. The Goth subculture, meanwhile, accepts only light-colored metals. It is because pale silvery color personifies the moon. The Earth’s satellite is the patron saint of mysterious creatures living in the shadows. By and large, it is associated with death and cold. The sun, on the other hand, denotes life and vital energy, and gold is its symbol. For this reason, gold and warm colors are generally rare in Gothic. Plus, silver looks better with black outfits.
- Lots of Inlays
Both modern and ancient Gothics are fond of ostentatiousness. An embellishment of precious and not very precious but lustrous stones is one of the ways to draw attention. As we said, Gothic loves cold colors, such as those radiated by sapphires, emeralds, amethysts, as well as black and white pearls and diamonds. Garnets and rubies, although they are on the warm side of the spectrum, are welcomed in Gothic because they resemble drops of blood. Blood, if you didn’t know it, is one of the central themes in Gothic. Besides stones, Gothic often resorts to enamels, blackening, and combinations of metal with wood, lace, velvet, and leather.
- Larger Than Life Sizes
Gothic is not about modesty. The larger a Gothic ring or necklace, the better. The more intricate beauty of gothic its design, the better. These jewelry items are not meant to be hidden under the clothes, they need to be the center of attention.
- Symbolism
The most popular Gothic motifs are:
– religious – these are crosses of all kinds, Christian symbols, and icons with the faces of saints;
– floral – patterns depicting vines, roses, lilies, leaves, thorns, etc. Such patterns exist since the Middle Ages and are known as Krabbe;
– images imitating elements of Gothic architecture such as spires, vaulted windows, rose windows, stained glass, etc.;
– mystical animals – gargoyles, dragons, Baphomet, etc.;
– symbols of the afterlife – coffins, crosses, ghosts, skulls, pentagrams, vampires, etc.;
– chivalry symbols including the image of knights, as well as their swords, shields, and helmets.
Gothic is a rather complex phenomenon. However, it is so fascinating to fathom its aspects and variations. Perhaps the very first Gothic ring in your personal collection will push you to learn more about the many facets of this mysterious fashion style.
