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A device cut in reverse into a ring's face, to be read in its impression.
Also known as: Seal ring, Signet engraving
A signet ring carries a device cut into its face in reverse, so that the impression it makes in wax reads correctly. That is the test that distinguishes a working seal from a decorative ring copying the look of one: on a real matrix the engraving is mirrored and sunk, and anything raised or reading correctly on the ring itself was never meant to be pressed. Signets were legal instruments as well as ornaments, which is why they were destroyed or defaced on their owner's death.
A device or a monogram cut into a flat oval or rectangular face, incised below the surface and reversed left to right.
Both belong to the heraldic identification of a person.