Masonic Jewelry

The friends you make in college fraternities, the military, or through community organizations often become lifelong brothers who assist in shaping your future.  It’s important to treasure and celebrate the bonds you create with others, and Masonic rings are one approach to preserving your memories.  These rings symbolize the brotherhood one shares with others who at one time held a common goal, and communicates the message that “no matter how far we drift apart, we will remember the bond we shared”.  Masonic rings make great gifts following graduation, discharge from the military, or even retirement, and come in several styles one of which is sure to suit your needs. 

In addition to preserving the memory of brotherhood once shared, wearing a Masonic ring can help other brothers who have shared a similar experience to identify you.  There’s no feeling quite like having an instant rapport with a complete stranger because of an experience you have both shared. 

Freemasons use signs (gestures), grips or tokens (handshakes), and certain words to admit legitimate members and visitors to their meetings.   Each Grand Lodge is free to create its own rites, so the signs, grips and tokens do vary from territory to territory.  Signs, grips and tokens are also changed periodically to add or omit sections, modernize the language used in the verbal portion, and sometimes changing word order to identify an impostor.  

Masonic Grand Lodge rites also can only be valid for a particular jurisdiction for a set amount of time, so they are difficult for an outsider to verify.  Today, an unidentified visitor may be required to produce actual hard copy documentation in addition to showing their knowledge of the prevailing rituals for that Grand Lodge.  Of course, wearing a well-crafted piece of Masonic jewelry probably wouldn’t hurt!

Is there any significance in the different color stones (Red, Blue and Black)when used in the Blue Lodge Masonic Rings?While there may not be as many versions of the Masonic ring as there are Masonic lapel pins, there are several, most notably the square and compasses and the so-called Tubal-Cain sign. The ring can be found crafted from many materials and the Masonic symbols have been placed on stones, or artificial replicas of stones, that are red, blue and black. Some of the myths surrounding these rings are that the red setting indicates a brother under the Grand Lodge of Scotland, while the blue setting is for those lodges that evolved from the United Grand Lodges of England. The black is just accepted. I have never heard anyone try to associate it with Prince Hall Masonry or lodges that are predominately comprised of Black brethren such as Equity #106, on the Register of the Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia.

The Freemasons are an important part of history, not only here in the United States, but also in the United Kingdom.  There is a natural camaraderie shared by those who are a part of this great organization.  Therefore, doesn’t it make sense to show your pride with some Masonic jewelry?

Not unlike a class ring, the beliefs and trials shared by Freemasons can be displayed and encapsulated in a metallic band that you can wear everyday.

The consensus is that if a Blue Lodge Ring is worn to advise those who see it that the wearer is a Master Mason, the tips of the compasses should be pointed towards the tips of the fingers. If the ring is worn to remind the wearer that he is a Master Mason, the ring should be worn with the tips of the compasses pointed towards him. The choice is yours to make!