gold and amethyst ring

For a doctor: An 18 carat gold ring set with a cushion cut dark purple slightly pinkish amethyst set with trellis shaped claws and on each side of the shank – very delicately engraved on the inside as well as the outside – the Staff of Asclepius, god of medicine who is depicted as a bearded man holding the serpent-entwined staff.

Asclepius was the son of Apollo and a Trikkaian princess. His mother died in labour and his father rescued his child, cutting him from her womb. From this he received the name Asklepios ‘to cut open’. The boy was raised by a centaur who instructed him in the art of medicine. Asklepios grew so skilled in the craft that he was able to restore the dead to life. However, because this was a crime against the natural order, Zeus destroyed him. After his death Asklepios was placed amongst the stars as the constellation Ophiochus (the Serpent Holder).