A sovereign ring is a ring which typically has a gold sovereign as a primary decorative feature, with the obverse face as the visible detail. The coin may be either genuine or replica tender, and may be either a sovereign or half sovereign.
Sovereign rings are associated with chav culture in the UK,1234 or more broadly with emulating the look of a mafioso.5
In the United Kingdom it is also common to use custom coinage bearing such motifs as the 'Three Lions' or other similar imagery such as Saint George, or a Welsh Dragon.
Celebrities who have been observed wearing a sovereign ring include Brad Pitt,5 Ghislaine Maxwell6 and the English rapper Louise Amanda Harman, hence her stage name of "Lady Sovereign".37
References
References
- "How to Spot a Chav". mirror. 2004-02-22. Retrieved 2022-11-29.
- Maxine Frith, "High fashion's debt to the lowly Chavs", The Independent, 1 February 2004.
- Aileen Dillane and Martin J. Power, "Hard Hats and Hoodies: The Songs of Two Working-Class British Protest Singers", in: The Bloomsbury Handbook of Popular Music and Social Class, ed. Ian Peddie, New York / London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020, ISBN 9781501345364, p. 282.
- "Setting the Scene: Overview", in: The Oxford Handbook of the Psychology of Appearance, ed. Nichola Rumsey and Diana Harcourt, Oxford: Oxford University, 2012, ISBN 9780199580521, p. 12.
- Murray Clark, "Brad Pitt, Your New Don Corleone", Esquire, 17 September 2019.
- Hope Coke, "Ghislaine Maxwell to make first court appearance remotely after transferring to Brooklyn detention centre", Tatler, 7 July 2020.
- "Meet Lady Sovereign: A One-Woman Grime Wave", The Herald Scotland, 29 October 2005.