You have read that the Celts painted themselves with wood dye and that they were fond of their animal pictures and symbols. Most of the examples of Celtic artwork seen today come from stone carvings,some as old as 3000BC or from burial sites where often jewellery and pots are all that is left. Celtic artwork is made up of many different interlinked patterns. Much of it is copied today in jewelry in gold and silver. Scotland has many inspirational sites but probably the most inspiring is Skara Brae in the Orkney Islands, in the far North East coast of Scotland. Skara Brae was a Celtic settlement and many patterns have been taken from the objects found there. Rings, pendants, earrings and brooches have all been inspired by these ancient designs. Torque bangles have been found dating back to the stone age made with precious gold alloy. The most common form of motif is the single spiral expansion, probably the meaning of prosperity. The Irish Celts used it as a symbol of their sun, loosely wound meant a big sun "summer" and tightly wound was the symbol for "winter". A double spiral in the form of an S shape meant day and night are the same time. Three piece spirals were the starting signs of Christianity and were used by the early monks, probably associating the 3 trinities~father, son & holy ghost. They look similar to the Isle of Man symbol today. Fierce animals were used which looked similar to wolves with pointed muzzles and long tails. The animal patterns are called Zoomorphs and are very common, mixed with interlacing knots. The interlacing knots are meant to mean everlasting as there is no beginning and no end and are a popular pattern in wedding rings for obvious reasons. Celtic wedding rings are available in gold and silver on our web pages. Please feel free to browse. Borders are also popular and come from the need of monks to attractively frame their handiwork and finish it off. Borders can take the shape of pleating or intricate knots. The Greek key pattern was thought to be inspired by the Celtic peoples art, and didn't come from the Greeks alone. It's amazing to think that after all the thousands of years that have passed, these patterns are still popular and have been fashioned into a wide selection of gold and silver jewelry.