About this object

Ring 7/8” in diameter, Damascus steel with wavy patterns

Why this object matters

My wedding band tells the story of how I met my husband in Wells Library. I was studying for my Ph.D. qualifying exams, and I went hunting for books about Victorian archaeologists (like one does…). As I was checking out David Roberts’ illustrations of the Holy Land, I mentioned to the person at circulation that the Victorians were very interested in Egypt, for Egyptology popped up in books as random as Sir Richard Burton’s Book of the Sword. The person behind the circ counter mentioned that he had done some research on Wooley and Thompson who excavated Ur. As a memory challenge, I decided to hold off writing those names down in my notebook. Well. When I got to study group, I discovered that my notebook–the one that I had been keeping all of my notes in–was gone. Panic. Race back to the library. See Mr. Wooley and Thompson. Describe the situation. We look for the notebook, no luck. I, in the most nerdy way possibly, say something to the effect of “Hey, can I have your email, if I have questions about Wooley and Thompson?” So we exchange emails. I go home to write the “Please keep an eye out for my notebook. Also, would you like to have coffee sometime so that we can talk about Victorian archaeologists?” when I see in my email “I may have found the notebook that we were looking for.” Race back to the library. As he’s handing back my notebook, he goes, “You mentioned Sir Richard Burton’s Book of the Sword earlier. You know his work was never finished, but it was picked up by this guy named Ewart Oakshott.” To which I reply in true supernerd fashion, “Of course I know Ewart Oakshott– I wrote my undergraduate honors thesis on early modern swordplay…How do you know Ewart Oakshott” Mr. Wooley and Thompson– “I forge my own swords.”

So when they were renovating the first floor of Wells Library, we saved some of the steel from the elevators, sawed off a chunk, and put it on the inside of both our wedding bands. On the outside, we put a bit of Damascus steel. The wavy patterns are created when two different types of steel meet. Low carbon steel is soft and malleable, but it can’t hold an edge. High carbon steel is super tough, but it can become brittle. Blacksmiths discovered that if you weld the two together, you get the strengths of each. So my ring speaks to our strengths, and it reminds me that it’s ok, once in a while, to be absent minded.”