Brief Summary…

• Recycled silver Victorian era coins and fork tines 
• Silver branch carved to same spec as tree sculpture
• Silver oak leaf cut from Georgian sixpence
• Optional Branch Styles: oak leaf, initials, precious stones, alt settings, etc
• Optional Engraved initials.
• Optional stones : Emerald, Ruby, Amethyst, Citrine
• Option of type of setting for stone if chosen!
• Handcrafted & Recycled in Cambridge
• Ring sizes : H – X (half sizes leave note in checkout comments box)
• Ring Size guide

A little more detail….

Circle of Life

An Old Silver Branch. A Georgian Oak Leaf. Deep Roots.

A branch circles the finger.

Bark twists across its surface.

A tiny oak leaf grows from the old silver.

And hidden amongst the texture, if you choose, a small gemstone waits to be discovered.

Circle of Life is one of my most tactile pieces.

It is a ring designed not simply to represent a tree, but to feel as though a small living branch has curled itself around your finger.

Rooted in the past. Growing into whatever comes next.

A Hairy Growler Signature Piece

This ring brings together several strands of the Hairy Growler world.

Old silver.

Recycled objects.

The British landscape.

Traditional hand tools.

And the oak.

That ancient symbol of strength, endurance and the long passage of time.

The branch begins with recycled Victorian-era silver and antique fork tines.

The little oak leaf is cut from an old Georgian silver sixpence.

Materials from different lives and different generations are brought together to create something intended to begin another.

Old silver becoming a new heirloom.

The Branch

The branch is the foundation of the ring.

I wanted it to feel substantial without becoming cumbersome.

Slim enough for everyday wear.

Solid enough to become one of those rings that gradually feels as though it has always belonged on your hand.

The surface is individually carved to create the same bark character I use on my larger Tree of Life work.

Lines divide.

Ridges rise.

Little hollows form between them.

The silver stops looking like metal.

It begins to look like something that grew.

Made from Something That Already Had a Life

I could make the branch from newly manufactured silver.

But that would miss something important.

Instead, I work with silver that already carries a past.

Old coins.

Antique fork tines.

Victorian material that once belonged to ordinary life.

A fork may once have sat on a family table.

A coin may have travelled through hundreds of hands.

Eventually their original purpose ended.

But the silver remained.

I don’t see an ending there. I see material waiting for its next life.

The Georgian Oak Leaf

Growing from the branch is a tiny oak leaf.

And this is where another piece of history enters the ring.

The leaf is individually cut from an old Georgian silver sixpence.

It is deliberately small.

Approximately 6 mm wide and 15 mm long.

Enough to be recognisably oak without overwhelming the branch beneath it.

The leaf is pierced, shaped and detailed by hand.

What was once a little piece of Georgian money becomes something that looks as though it has just grown from Victorian silver.

Two periods of history meeting on one branch.

Deep Roots

The oak has become one of the central trees within my work.

Perhaps because it carries such a powerful sense of time.

An oak does not rush into existence.

It establishes itself.

Roots descend.

The trunk thickens.

Branches reach further.

Storms arrive.

Seasons turn.

And still it grows.

That makes the oak a natural symbol of endurance.

But I think there is more to it than simple strength.

Its strength comes from having somewhere deep to stand.

Strength Is Below the Surface

We notice the visible tree.

The trunk.

The canopy.

The leaves.

But much of what allows an old tree to endure is hidden beneath our feet.

Its roots.

The invisible structure holding everything else in place.

Family can be like that.

Memory can be like that.

Home can be like that.

The experiences that shaped us can be like that.

Not everything that keeps us standing needs to be visible.

The Circle

There is another layer to the design that gave the ring its name.

The branch doesn’t end.

It curls around the finger and returns towards itself.

A circle.

And circles have always carried ideas of continuity, wholeness and return.

There is no obvious beginning.

No obvious ending.

Only movement around and around again.

Season into season.

Acorn into oak.

Oak into acorn.

Old silver into jewellery.

One keeper into the next.

The Circle of Life.

A Secret Stone

One of my favourite details can be almost invisible.

A small gemstone can be set discreetly amongst the texture of the branch.

It isn’t intended to dominate the ring.

It is something to discover.

A little point of colour hiding in the bark.

Depending upon your chosen version, the branch can carry stones including emerald, ruby, amethyst or other available options.

Or you can leave the branch entirely as silver.

Not every secret needs to sparkle.

Nature, Heart & Spirit

There is also a particularly special three-stone version of Circle of Life.

Three gemstones are hidden within the branch.

Emerald for Nature.

Ruby for Heart.

Amethyst for Spirit.

Three tiny points of colour amongst the bark.

And in this version, each stone is seated within an 18ct gold setting.

The gold is deliberately restrained.

Not a large decorative flourish.

Just enough warmth around each gemstone to make it glow against the old silver.

Nature. Heart. Spirit.

Three things worth keeping close.

A Ring of Hidden Things

I rather like that so much of this ring reveals itself slowly.

At first you see a silver branch.

Then the oak leaf.

Look closer and the bark becomes more complicated.

A tiny gemstone appears.

Perhaps initials are hidden somewhere within the branch.

Then somebody tells you the leaf used to be a Georgian sixpence.

The branch began as Victorian silver and old cutlery.

And suddenly a simple woodland ring contains several different lives.

This is jewellery for the second look.

Your Branch

Circle of Life can be made with different branch details, allowing the ring to become particularly personal.

The oak leaf can remain the central feature.

Initials can be incorporated.

A gemstone can be hidden amongst the bark.

Different stone combinations and settings can create further meaning.

This isn’t customisation for the sake of adding options.

It is an opportunity to put something quietly personal into a ring you may wear every day.

The tree remains mine. The meaning becomes yours.

Made Slowly at the Hairy Growler Bench

Each Circle of Life ring is individually constructed and carved.

The old silver is selected.

The branch is formed.

Its surface is worked with traditional jeweller’s hand tools until bark begins to emerge.

The Georgian sixpence is prepared.

The oak leaf is drawn.

Pierced.

Shaped.

Detailed.

If stones are chosen, their settings are individually prepared and incorporated into the branch.

Then the whole ring is refined until it feels comfortable enough to become an everyday piece.

It takes longer this way.

That is rather the point.

The Maker Stays in the Bark

No two branches can be perfectly identical.

Nor would I want them to be.

The carved lines move differently.

The old silver varies.

The little oak leaves develop their own character.

A stone may sit fractionally differently amongst the bark.

Look closely and the ring carries evidence of the tools that made it.

Those variations are not manufacturing errors.

They are the maker’s hand remaining in the piece.

Made for Everyday Life

Despite all the symbolism and detail, Circle of Life was designed to be worn.

Properly worn.

Not kept safely in a box and brought out twice a year.

The band is slim but solid.

The branch texture feels tactile beneath the fingers.

And over time the silver will change.

Raised areas of bark will become brighter.

Recessed lines will deepen.

The ring will gather small marks from the life happening around it.

Eventually your hand finishes what mine began.

A Ring for the Long View

This can be a ring for a marriage.

An anniversary.

A family.

A new beginning.

A recovery.

A milestone.

A reminder of someone who gave you roots.

Or simply a connection to the natural world.

It doesn’t need to announce any of those things.

The meaning can remain hidden in the bark, just like the stone.

Some of the strongest things in our lives are understood rather than explained.

A Future Heirloom Made from the Past

The materials in this ring were already old before the jewellery existed.

The Georgian silver belonged to one age.

The Victorian silver belonged to another.

Now they have been joined.

The ring begins another chapter.

Perhaps it will be worn for decades.

Perhaps eventually somebody else will wear it.

By then the bark will be softer.

The silver will carry more marks.

And another person’s history will have become inseparable from the old metal.

Deep roots. New growth. Another circle beginning.

Product Details

• Hairy Growler Signature Piece
• Original Circle of Life oak leaf and branch ring
• Part of the Deep Roots lineage
• Branch handcrafted from recycled Victorian-era silver and antique silver fork tines
• Branch individually carved to create organic bark texture
• Bark treatment relates directly to the Hairy Growler Tree of Life sculpture
• Oak leaf individually cut from an old Georgian silver sixpence
• Oak leaf approximately 6 mm wide and 15 mm long
• Slim but substantial construction designed for comfortable everyday wear
• Optional personalised branch details
• Optional initials
• Optional hidden gemstone
• Available gemstone options may include emerald, ruby, amethyst and other stones according to availability
• Special Nature, Heart & Spirit version available
• Nature, Heart & Spirit version features emerald, ruby and amethyst
• Three-stone version features 18ct gold gemstone settings
• Made using traditional jeweller’s hand tools and techniques
• Available in ring sizes H to X
• Half sizes can be requested
• Every ring is individually handcrafted and will have subtle differences
• Oak symbolism includes strength, endurance, wisdom, longevity, protection and deep roots
• Handcrafted and recycled in Cambridge
• Includes a private Signature Piece Passport for its owner

Circle of Life

Once, there was a Georgian sixpence.

Elsewhere, Victorian silver lived another life.

They belonged to different hands.

Different tables.

Different pockets.

Different generations.

Eventually both reached the end of the lives they had been made for.

Then they reached my bench.

I formed the old silver into a branch.

Carved bark into its surface.

Curled it around the finger.

Then I took the Georgian coin and cut from it something small.

An oak leaf.

New growth from old silver.

And suddenly two objects from the past were no longer finished at all.

They were beginning again.

Circle of Life.

Deep roots. New growth. No real beginning. No real end.