Folding ring "Peter and Fevronia"

Jewelry, like any expensive items, requires careful handling and certain care. Special attention should be paid to the appearance of jewelry in hot and humid climates. It is also necessary to protect jewelry from getting perfumes and cosmetics on them.

Since ancient times, the ring, a vicious circle, has been perceived as a symbol of unity, infinity and wholeness. The tradition of wearing rings came to Russia from Byzantium along with Christianity. The word "ring" itself comes from the Old Slavonic "kolo" – circle, wheel, one of the oldest images of eternity. Already in the first centuries, Christians wore rings and rings as special signs of their belonging to the Church, placing brief confessions of faith on them. For example, on early Christian gems one could find a fish (Greek: IΧΘΥΣ — "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior"), an anchor – a symbol of hope for salvation, a ship as an allegory about the Church, or the monogram of Christ - Chrysome.

Silver is one of the most ancient metals known to man. Its white luster, plasticity, and ability to take any shape have made it a favorite jeweler's material for thousands of years. Unlike gold, silver is more affordable, but it is not inferior to it in beauty and nobility. However, pure silver is too soft to create durable jewelry, so it has been used as alloys since ancient times.

Since the first centuries of Christianity, believers, going on a pilgrimage or a long journey, sought to have with them a shrine – a particle of the Golgotha Cross, relics of saints or objects consecrated on them. This is how encolpions appeared (from the Greek "collos" — the bowels, the heart): small arks that were worn on the chest. Initially, they had the shape of medallions with a schematic representation of a cross, but over time they themselves acquired a cross-shaped appearance. In Russia, such crosses began to be called relics, since they kept the particles of relics inside and therefore were endowed with special grace for the believer.

In the Orthodox tradition, the patrons of marriage and the family are revered as the Holy Prince Peter and Princess Fevronia of Murom, whose life has become a model of Christian matrimony based on mutual respect, patience and sacrificial love.