“In reality they all lived in a world where the real thing was never said.” That’s a line from Edith Wharton’s celebrated novel The Age of Innocence. And it’s not entirely random that I have recalled it here: This Mother’s Day, I am forcing my family to go to the Berkshires to visit the Mount, the author’s sprawling Georgian-inspired country estate in Lenox, Mass.
I have also been thinking about that line a little more deeply in the context of Seal & Scribe’s newest designs, a mini capsule of three signet rings that I wanted to highlight in the run-up to Mother’s Day (Sunday, May 10).
Collectively titled Words to Live By, the jewels center antique glass Tassie intaglio seals, each engraved with a phrase once meant to quietly communicate values, hopes, and convictions, according to Seal & Scribe founder and designer Shari Cohen.
The mottos on the seals have “already lived many lives,” says Cohen. “Now they begin a new chapter—offering strength, meaning, and intention to those who wear them.”
Intaglio seals were originally used with written correspondence, but their purpose was never purely decorative. The messages engraved in the seals “carried meaning, reassurance, and resolve,” Cohen explains. Here, the “words to live by” she has landed on become mantras relevant to the present day (and the 24/7 turbulence it inflicts on us).
I admit I had trouble divining what the phrases mean. On all three rings, the words are backward. Two are in foreign languages. The messages are objectively cryptic, and while clearly inspirational, they’re open to interpretation, allowing their meanings to resonate across many different situations and headspaces (which is one reason they are so appealing).
The goal, Cohen says, is for each phrase to serve as a constant reminder of intention, whether worn to mark a personal milestone, offer quiet encouragement, or anchor the wearer during times of challenge and change. In 2026, that sounds very Mother’s Day gift–appropriate.
Discussing each ring’s individual significance, Cohen says of the one engraved lungi omai vicino (Italian for “faraway, now near”): “For me, this evokes a mantra of hope in anything being possible. Something that once felt so out of reach is now within reach, and that could be a personal milestone achievement—career, family, etc.—or it could be something as huge as peace.”
Of the style bearing a message in Portuguese, sempre o’mesmo—“always the same”—Cohen notes, “While at first glance this might sound cryptic, I read it as a mantra to be prepared and flexible to the surprises that you didn’t see coming.
“You never know what is around the corner, and a surprise twist could lead you onto a new path, be it a new career, a new relationship, or a new passion. So many people plan out their entire lives, and in doing so miss out on saying yes to surprises that they had not planned on, surprises that will be there for all of us at one time or another.”
The third Words to Live By piece is engraved in English: No caution guards us from surprise. “This motto is a reminder that reliability, consistency, and confidence are worthy personal attributes to embody,” says Cohen. “In today’s modern world, we are engulfed in tens of thousands of images and messages daily via our computers and our phones through social media and the internet. In an environment that changes by the minute, and sometimes by the second, being sure of who you are, and not succumbing to the constantly changing societal norms and fads that are thrown at us through social media, is a quality to revere and respect.
“It’s an age-old motto that is found on many intaglio seals, and it stands the test of time. Be confident in who you are and don’t feel the need to change with lemmings. Be true to yourself!”
If Cohen’s insights ring true, the phrases that appear on the intaglios, veiled as they are, probably would still have been too explicit for the characters who inhabit the pages of The Age of Innocence, a circa-1870s portrait of high-society New Yorkers. Strict social conventions stifled individual aspirations and desires. Discretion and decorum superseded authentic, unchecked emotions.
Unlike Wharton’s Gilded Age world, “where the real thing was never said,” ours is one in which people usually say whatever they want. So maybe these signet rings are a happy medium between the two. Because we do still put limits on our expression: Your kid can’t see you crying when you pick her up from school. You edit the original draft of a scathing email. You check your phone in the middle of a Zoom call, observe that the world is burning, but return to the meeting poker-faced and undeterred.
In those moments, it seems, what is most needed is jewelry that facilitates—as Cohen puts it—“a quiet conversation between the piece and its owner.”
Top: Seal & Scribe’s new Words to Live By capsule comprises three rings designed in the classic signet style, but with sleeker lines and finishes.
Follow me on Instagram: @aelliott718
- Subscribe to the JCK News Daily
- Subscribe to the JCK Special Report
- Follow JCK on Instagram: @jckmagazine
- Follow JCK on X: @jckmagazine
- Follow JCK on Facebook: @jckmagazine
