Sterling Pentacle Poison Ring, Size 10

Sterling silver. Solid, not plated.

Pentacle face. The circled star, named properly.

Hidden compartment. The poison ring's famous secret.

• Material: sterling silver, size 10
• Design: pentacle (the five-pointed star enclosed in its circle) on a hinged compartment lid with snap closure
• Compartment suits a pinch of herb, a written intention, or a tiny keepsake; nothing the wearer would mind losing
• Wipe with a silver cloth to keep the shine
• SKU: JRPOI10

The poison ring is history's most dramatic piece of jewelry gossip: hinged compartment rings go back to antiquity, worn for keepsakes, relics, perfume, and portraits far more often than for the assassin's dose the name insists on, but the Renaissance's poisoning legends, fairly earned or not, gave the design its permanent title and its permanent intrigue. This one crowns the compartment with a pentacle, the five-pointed star in its circle, the sign modern practice reads as the elements bound in unity and protection, which makes the hidden space underneath a natural home for the practice's smallest cargo: a pinch of protective herb, a written intention folded tight, a token that travels unannounced. Sterling throughout, sized 10. The ring keeps no secrets on its own, as we say plainly; it gives the wearer's smallest one a hinged silver home.

1. Load the compartment lightly: a pinch of herb or a folded intention.
2. Snap it shut; the closure is the design's five-century-old trick.
3. Polish with a silver cloth; sterling rewards the habit.

• Skullcap Cut, 1 oz: the peace herb by the pinch.
• Pentacle Ring, Silver Plated: the plain-band sibling.
• Silver Plated Chains, Set of 12: for wearing the ring at the neck.

Did poison rings really carry poison?

Mostly not, honestly: hinged compartment rings carried keepsakes, relics, and perfume across centuries, and the Renaissance's poisoning legends gave the design its name and reputation.

Pentacle or pentagram?

Pentacle, properly: the five-pointed star enclosed in its circle, read in modern practice as the elements bound in unity and protection.

What fits in the compartment?

The practice's smallest cargo: a pinch of herb, a tightly folded intention, a tiny keepsake.