Men's Rings, From Dynastic Egypt to Hells Angels

Now, 500 rings from the Gastou collection will be displayed True to his tenet of buying "Ahead of fashion," Mr Gastou started collecting rings early - during the 1950s.

His mother noticed how he coveted her rings, so she bought him a silver signet ring, now lost, beginning an obsession that continues today His ring collection brings together the academic and mischievous sides of his character and encompasses every period from dynastic Egypt to the world of Hells Angels His haul of biker rings was assembled during the 1980s and 1990s when the hegemony that motorcycle gangs had exercised over popular culture had passed and he found trays of unloved skull rings while trawling the shops near the old Les Halles site in central Paris.

To shake things up a little, Mr Gastou could not resist adding a few rings worn to celebrate Black Masses, the kind of pieces that make his collection remarkable No matter how old or important, whether rings of 17th-century Venetian doges, enameled rings of the 18th century, or 19th-century mourning rings, Mr.

Gastou has never seen his rings as lifeless historical artifacts but as personal and intimate objects often commemorating a passion or love. . Source