From the early seventeenth to the end of the nineteenth century, testators left money in their wills to have rings with commemorative inscriptions made and distributed to their friends and families. Simple bands enamelled with the name and life dates of the deceased were frequently made, sometimes set with a gemstone or a bezel set with a rock crystal covering a symbol such as a coffin or initials in gold wire. In the later 18th century, rings followed neo-classical designs, their oval bezels often decorated with the same designs as funerary monuments such as urns, broken pillars and mourning figures. Hair from the deceased was incorporated into the designs or set in a compartment at the back of the ring to give each jewel a uniquely personal element. Black or white enamel were favoured though white enamel was often, though not universally used to commemorate children and unmarried adults.

The inscription on the revolving bezel of this ring records that it was made to commemorate Sarah Wymer, who died aged only 15 on the 14 April, 1807. Black, rather than white enamel has been used although Sarah is perhaps unlikely to have been married. The panel on the back of the ring is set with a plaited section of Sarah's brown hair. Hair was used in jewels as a sign of friendship, love or mourning as a physical part of the body which would provide a real and unchanged link with the loved one.