Japanese Silver Ring 'Kumogata'

Open silver band carved all over with curling clouds in dark relief

Clouds all the way round. This wide open band is carved with curling clouds, the scrolled kind that appear on temple beams and kimono, one over the next around the whole outside, with the recesses darkened so every curl has an edge. The silver is left matte, so the ring reads as carved stone more than as polished metal.

It is the ring in the collection with the most relief and no figure on it, and the clouds are the whole design.

The name, Kumogata, is the cloud shape, the stylised curl the ring is covered in, and the name is the pattern.

The band is sterling silver, stamped 925 inside the band, about 9 mm wide, cast with the clouds in relief and hand-darkened in the recesses. The inner face is smooth and the band is split at the back.

Wear it on the index or middle finger, and on its own or beside a plain band. It is a ring for either hand and for any outfit that has a dark colour in it somewhere, which is most of the range.

The clouds are the auspicious kind, the ones that carry dragons and Buddhas in painting, and here they are on their own, without a passenger. Each curl has a small round centre, which is how the pattern is drawn in cloth.

From across a table it is a dark silver band with a texture. From close the clouds show their curls and their centres, the recesses their darkening, and the edges their matte. It is the ring for someone who wants a pattern and not a picture.

Every ring in the collection is photographed on the same pale ground at the same scale, so the pages compare with each other: what looks big here is big on the hand. The measurements given are taken across the face, not round the finger.

Silver darkens with time and skin, and this ring is meant to: the recesses are already blackened so the relief reads, and the high points polish themselves against your hand. Wipe with a soft cloth; a silver cloth brings the shine back when you want it. Take it off for the sea and the shower.

The band is open at the back, so one size fits most hands: slide it on, then press the ends gently together or apart to set it. It is meant to be adjusted a few times, not every day; find the size and leave it.