Coilbright Hand Made Twisted Viking Arm Ring with Rope Coil Body & Rounded Terminals | Norse Wedding Gift | RK-1779

This is a twisted Viking arm ring, open at the back, made from a heavy round bar worked into a deep rope twist and finished with two smooth rounded terminals. It is polished to a bright silver finish so the ridges of the twist catch light along their whole length. Worn at the wrist it sits as a substantial cuff. On a slimmer forearm it rides higher, which is how the originals were usually carried.

Arm rings were not jewellery in the way we use the word. They were money and they were contract. A Norse lord was called a ring giver, and the rings he handed out were both payment and public proof of an oath, worn where everyone could see it. Because the silver was the value, the ring had to be divisible, and hoards from across the Viking world are full of arm rings that have been deliberately cut into pieces to settle a debt by weight. That is the real reason so many of them are open ended rather than closed. A closed ring is an ornament. An open one is a bar of silver you happen to be wearing.

Made, twisted, formed and polished by hand in the Czech Republic, and shipped in a cloth pouch. You will find it filed with the arm rings and torcs, along with the rest of the Viking rings and bracelets.

Specifications

Why the twist, and why it is open at the back

The rope twist is the single most common decoration on surviving Norse arm rings and neck rings, and it exists for a practical reason before an aesthetic one. Twisting a bar work hardens it. Every turn puts the metal into a slight permanent strain, and a work hardened bar resists bending far better than a straight annealed one of the same thickness. A twisted ring holds its shape on an arm that is doing things.

It also multiplies the surface. A plain round bar shows you one highlight. A twisted bar shows you a highlight on every ridge, which is why these read as bright from across a room even in poor light.

The open back is not a manufacturing shortcut. It lets one ring fit many arms, it lets the wearer put it on without a clasp that could fail, and historically it let a piece be cut for its silver. It also means the ring is adjustable, which is why we recommend it for a gift when you do not know a wrist measurement.

An honest word about the metal

We describe this piece by its finish rather than by a metal name, and we do that deliberately. It is a solid formed piece with a bright polished silver finish. We are not selling it as hallmarked sterling and you should not buy it believing that it is. If a shop is offering you a heavy twisted arm ring at this price and calling it solid sterling silver, be sceptical.

What you are getting is a substantial, solid piece with real weight in the hand, a proper polish rather than a sprayed lacquer, and terminals that are formed rather than glued on. It wears well, it takes a knock without denting easily, and it does not have the hollow feel that gives cheap costume work away the moment you pick it up.

The finish will dull with time and skin contact, in the way any bright metal does. That is dealt with in the care section below and it takes about a minute to reverse.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel, the leather or the wood. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it.

On a twisted arm ring there are two places engraving works. The flat inner faces of the terminals will each take a few characters, which is where most people put initials or a date. The inside of the ring, against the skin, will take a longer line and keeps it private to the wearer. The twisted outer surface will not hold engraving cleanly and we will tell you so if you ask. See the engraving page.

Fit and sizing

This is sized by adjustment rather than by a number, which is the great advantage of an open backed ring and the reason it makes such a good gift.

Measure the circumference of the wrist or the forearm at the spot where you want the ring to sit, using a strip of paper and a ruler. Most adult wrists fall between 16 and 19 centimetres. The ring is made to sit comfortably across that range with a small adjustment.

To adjust it, hold the ring with both hands and press or ease the two terminals apart with slow, steady pressure across the whole body of the ring. Do not lever on the terminals themselves and do not work it quickly. Metal that is flexed slowly moves. Metal that is snapped back and forth fatigues. Two or three careful adjustments in the ring’s lifetime are fine. Twenty are not.

Put it on by rotating the gap to the inside of the wrist, sliding it over the narrowest part of the joint, and then turning the gap round to the back. Never force it straight over the wrist bone.

Care

Take it off before swimming, before the shower and before the gym. Chlorine, salt and sweat all attack a bright finish faster than anything else you will encounter, and the film of soap left behind after a shower is what makes most jewellery look dull.

To bring the shine back, rub it with a soft dry cloth or a jeweller’s polishing cloth. That is enough for ordinary dulling. For heavier tarnish, warm water with a drop of washing up liquid, a soft toothbrush worked along the twist, then rinse and dry thoroughly. Do not use a silver dip, and do not use an abrasive cream, because both will strip a finish rather than clean it.

Store it dry and away from other metal pieces that could scratch it. The cloth pouch it ships in is enough.

Made in the Czech Republic

This piece is made by hand in the Czech Republic, in a workshop that still works the old way. The steel is forged, ground, heat treated and finished by smiths who learned the trade from the people before them, and the wood, horn and leather are cut and fitted by hand rather than pressed out on a line. That is also why no two pieces come out exactly the same.

Ransack Viking is a United States company. We import these pieces ourselves, check every one when it lands and ship from our warehouse in Memphis, Tennessee. Engraving is done here in the United States after the piece arrives, so your runes or your own design go on before it leaves for you.

A note on handmade variation

This arm ring is hand made rather than machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The pitch of the twist, the exact spacing of the ridges and the shape of the two terminals are set by hand at the bench, so no two rings are identical. The polish is worked by hand, so the highlights fall differently on every piece.

The weight, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not. More on the Elder Futhark elsewhere on the site, along with Odin’s ravens.

Frequently asked questions

How do I size a Viking arm ring?

You do not order a size. You measure your wrist or forearm with a strip of paper, then adjust the open back gently with both hands until it sits where you want it. Most adult wrists are covered without adjustment at all.

Is this solid sterling silver?

No, and we will not claim it is. It is a solid formed piece with a bright polished silver finish. We describe the finish honestly rather than putting a metal name on it that we cannot back.

Will it tarnish?

It will dull with skin contact and time, like any bright metal. A polishing cloth brings it back in under a minute. Taking it off before swimming and showering slows it a great deal.

Can I wear it every day?

Yes. It is solid and it is the right shape for daily wear, with rounded terminals and no clasp to fail. Just take it off for water and for heavy work.

Will it fit a larger arm?

It adjusts across the normal adult range. If you know the wearer has a forearm well above average, message us before ordering and we will open the ring further before it ships.

Can I have a wedding date engraved on it?

Yes. The inner faces of the terminals take initials or a short date, and the inside of the band takes a longer line. Use the rune converter if you want it in Elder Futhark.

What is in the box

• Coilbright twisted Viking arm ring, polished
• Cloth storage pouch
• Sizing and adjustment card
• Polishing cloth
• Made and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

See the rest of the arm rings and torcs, the Viking rings and bracelets, the wedding and groomsmen gifts, and the guides.