Gold signet ring set with an Ancient Roman jasper intaglio of Triton

Intaglio Rings and Jewellery: A Collector's Guide

By Ravensbury AntiquesOct 19, 2026

Intaglios are among the oldest and most personal jewels there are. For more than two thousand years people have worn engraved stones on their hands, to sign documents, protect themselves and say something about who they were. They are also one of the most rewarding areas for a collector.

What is an intaglio?

An intaglio is a design engraved into the surface of a gemstone or glass, so the image is sunk below the surface. A cameo is the opposite: the design is carved in raised relief. Because the intaglio image is reversed, pressing it into warm wax or clay leaves a positive impression. That is why intaglios were set in signet rings and seals: they were working tools for sealing letters and documents.

Roman gold ring with carnelian intaglio — A Roman gold ring with a carnelian intaglio of winged Nemesis, 1st to 3rd century AD. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Open Access, public domain).

The stones

Carnelian, the classic orange-red seal stone, used from antiquity to the 19th century.
Bloodstone, dark green flecked with red, popular for men's signets.
Agate and sardonyx, prized for their bands of colour.
Jasper, often mottled, widely used by Roman engravers.
Garnet, deep red and harder to engrave, used for fine work.
Lapis lazuli, citrine and even sapphire, used for heraldic signets.
Glass, from Roman nicolo glass to the moulded glass seals of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Roman Triton intaglio ring — Our Roman gold signet ring with a Triton intaglio, 2nd to 3rd century AD.

Roman Triton intaglio ring, detail — Our Roman gold signet ring with a Triton intaglio, 2nd to 3rd century AD.

Glass versus hardstone

Glass intaglios are not simply cheap copies. The Romans made fine glass gems, and in the 18th century glass pastes cast from famous engraved gems were collected as serious objects. Desk seals and "seal wheels" carried several small glass intaglios engraved with mottoes such as bon soir or l'amitié. Hardstone intaglios, cut by hand on a wheel, generally show crisper detail and are harder wearing.

Subjects

Intaglio subjects range from gods and heroes to coats of arms. You will find Mars, Hercules, Zeus, Diana and Medusa; Roman emperors and Grand Tour portraits of poets such as Shakespeare; family crests and monograms; and sentimental scenes with mottoes. Heraldic intaglios can sometimes be traced to a specific family, which adds a fascinating layer of history.

Early Islamic garnet intaglio ring — A 10th-century Islamic garnet intaglio in a later silver mount: an ancient stone given a second life.

Ancient stones in later rings

Engraved gems were treasured and reused for centuries. It is very common to find an ancient stone in a much later mount. Our Roman Triton intaglio, a jasper engraved in the 2nd to 3rd century AD, was set in an 18ct gold signet ring in 19th-century Paris. An early Islamic garnet seal engraved in Kufic script around the 10th century now sits in a silver mount made centuries later. A good dealer will always describe the stone and the mount separately.

Roman intaglio ring — Roman rings are often small, and many now sit best on the little finger.

What to look for

Quality of engraving. Look at faces, hands and lettering under a loupe.
Wear consistent with age. Ancient stones show soft surface wear; sharp, glossy polish on a supposedly Roman gem is a warning sign.
An honest description of what is original, what is later, and what is glass.
Wearability. A flat, low intaglio sits comfortably and works well as a pinky ring.