This is a beautiful and highly collectable ring by the Finnish designer, Pentti Sarpaneva (1925 - 1978).
Sarpaneva initially trained as a graphic artist. He studied at the School of Fine Art and the School of Industrial Art in Helsinki. In the 1960s he turned to designing jewellery and metalwork, specialising in affordable jewellery, working initially with the firm of Kalevala Koru and later with Turun Hopea Oy.
Some of his jewellery designs were cast in silver or gold, but his favoured metal was bronze, cast in bold, spare designs, often described as ‘Brutalist’. He was the brother of glass designer Timo Sarpaneva whose fame tended to overshadow him.
This unusual silver ring by him dates to 1974. The takes the form of a large flower head placed on a thick silver band. The hoop of the ring is created in two sections with sweeping ends - they are to nearly touch as part of the design - but they would give you a little room for expansion if required.
It is quite a showstopper of a ring - the flowerhead section is quite large and prominent. It flower embellishment is 2.2 cm in diameter and rises from the hoop to a height of 1 cm. The hoop is about 0.7 cm wide. It has a weight of 12 grams of 925 silver.
It is a later working of his Brutalist vision - but softened by the floral design. This ring does not come up for sale that often - and it is also of a good relatively larger size. It is UK Ring Size M / N as shown on my ring sizer. It will be sent in a nice ring box to keep. I will cap the postage as a Royal Mail Tracked and Signed For (Small Parcel). I will take out insurance for you to insure against full loss in transit.
The ring is being sold in lovely clean condition. It is nice and shiny - the flowerhead is naturally in the two tones - silver with black tones to the top of the petals. It might not look so shiny in my photographs - but it has a nice silver glint to it!
It is fully marked inside Made in Finland with Sarpaneva's mark and the date letter V7 (the date letter for 1974). And the mark to the Assay office at Turku in Finland. There are lots of other marks inside the hoop relating to its creation.
I have taken lots of images for your inspection. A lovely ring - which you dont find very often. Listed here at a fair price for a vintage piece of Finnish silver by a master designer.