Celtic Jewellery Found in Britain: Rings, Earrings and Bangles
Celtic jewellery found in Britain ranges from substantial open-ended bangles to compact cast rings and flowing zoomorphic forms. The surviving objects are often simple at first glance, yet their weight, irregular surfaces and deliberate shapes give them a powerful character.
Our current Celtic collection is based on four genuine finds from Somerset, North Wales, Northumberland and Scotland. Together, they show how varied Celtic personal metalwork could be.
Celtic Mystic Winged Earrings from a Somerset find
The Celtic Mystic Winged Earrings preserve the openwork form of an original artefact discovered in Somerset.
Its flowing lines appear to suggest a bird or winged creature, although the exact subject and original purpose cannot be identified with certainty. The circular opening may have been a suspension point, or it may once have held a contrasting material such as enamel or coral.
The original object was not discovered as a pair of earrings. British Historical Jewellery has preserved its surviving form and adapted it into wearable earrings. This allows the complete openwork design to be worn without suggesting that the excavated artefact originally served the same purpose.
The earrings are individually hand-cast in silver, gold or platinum, giving the mysterious Somerset form a new wearable setting while retaining its original surface character.
Celtic Penannular Bangle from North Wales
The Celtic Penannular Bangle is an exact 1:1 historical reproduction of an open-ended bangle found in North Wales.
“Penannular” describes a ring that is almost complete but has a deliberate opening between its terminal ends. This construction created a bold and practical form that allowed a degree of adjustment.
Bangles and arm-rings may have expressed identity, status, loyalty or an important personal connection. They may also have been exchanged as gifts. The precise role of this particular object is unknown, but its plain rounded section and substantial weight suggest an object intended to be handled and worn.
Slight changes in the thickness of the original band remain visible in the reproduction. These irregularities preserve the handmade character of the excavated find rather than replacing it with modern mechanical uniformity.
Northumberland Celtic Currency Ring
The Northumberland Celtic Currency Ring is a heavy cast ring traditionally described as “ring-money.”
Objects of this kind are thought to have belonged to a culture in which weighed metal could act as portable wealth. A substantial ring may have been worn, carried, given or exchanged, allowing material value and personal adornment to overlap.
However, the description “ring-money” is a modern archaeological interpretation rather than a surviving Celtic name. The precise purpose of any individual ring is difficult to prove, and possibilities can include adornment, exchange, status, storage of metal or ritual use.
The Northumberland example has a notably heavy form with an irregular thickness and smooth internal surface. Its physical weight is central to its character as both jewellery and a possible store of value.
Scottish Celtic Currency Ring
The Scottish Celtic Currency Ring is smaller and more compact than the Northumberland design.
It is also traditionally described as ring-money, but its reduced scale gives it a different feel on the hand. A smaller object may have been easier to carry or exchange, although it may equally have served as personal adornment or as part of clothing or equipment.
The original Scottish find has a distinctive pitted surface and natural variations in thickness. Rather than smoothing those qualities away, the reproduction preserves the unusually tactile appearance of the excavated artefact.
Which Celtic jewellery design should you choose?
Each piece expresses a different side of Celtic metalwork:
- The Celtic Mystic Winged Earrings offer flowing openwork and a mysterious zoomorphic form.
- The Celtic Penannular Bangle has a substantial open-ended silhouette.
- The Northumberland Currency Ring is heavy, simple and strongly tactile.
- The Scottish Currency Ring offers the same broad ring-money tradition in a smaller wearable form.
The earrings suit someone drawn to movement and symbolic animal forms. The bangle makes the strongest visual statement, while the currency rings offer compact pieces whose simplicity allows their weight and surviving surface to speak for themselves.
Exact historical reproductions, individually hand-cast in Leeds
Each Celtic design begins with a genuine artefact discovered in Britain. The original object is pressed directly into casting sand so that its surviving proportions, wear and surface detail can be carried into solid sterling silver, gold or platinum.
Every piece is individually cast and finished at our workshop inside the Leeds Corn Exchange. Where a design has been adapted into a new wearable form, as with the Somerset earrings, that distinction is explained clearly.
Qualifying precious-metal pieces are independently tested and hallmarked by the London Assay Office.
Explore the complete Celtic jewellery collection, learn more about Celtic currency rings and penannular bangles, or discover how our historical reproductions are created.