Harry Potter Slytherin Rings & Tie-Pins

I’ve been having fun taking a trip down memory lane and re-visiting the jewellery I made for the Harry Potter films. The Slytherin rings and tie-pins I created for Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban were worn by the Slytherin house members: Malfoy, Crabbe, Pike, Goyle and Parkinson then also worn in their later films.

Harry Potter Slytherin Film Jewellery

© Warner Bros

The Slytherin tie pins were worn by Draco Malfoy, Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe and Pansy Parkinson in the Prisoner of Azkaban

Men’s Slytherin ring 

Worn by Malfoy, Crabbe, Pike and Goyle in The Prisoner of Azkaban and the later films.

Female Slytherin ring 

Worn by Pansy Parkinson in The Prisoner of Azkaban.

I wanted to photograph my Harry Potter Slytherin jewellery in a way that felt fitting to the story but was also my style. I get an uneasy feeling looking at the pointing finger which to me felt right for Slytherin! Thank you to my wonderful daughter for modelling.

The Meaning of Snake or Serpent Jewellery

The pharaohs of Egypt used snakes to represent royalty and deity and wore snake pendants as sacred symbols around their necks. For the Romans and ancient Greek’s snakes represented wisdom and feature heavily in the myths of ancient Greece and Rome. Aesculapius, the god of medicine was depicted with a pair of snakes wrapped around his staff – a motif that is still used today to symbolise the medical profession. The snake’s ability to shed their skin was often linked to using the snake or serpent as a symbol of regeneration and rebirth.

The History of Snake and Serpent Jewellery

Snake jewellery has been worn in both ancient and modern times. Queen Victoria’s engagement ring from Price Albert featured a gold snake with emerald details. In Victorian times snakes were used to represent eternal love, regeneration and fertility. Emerald was Queen Victoria’s birthstone (link) and represents love and fertility as they are believed to help open the heart and encourage successful love. Following Queen Victoria and Price Albert’s engagement there was a huge surge in demand for snake rings and snake and serpent jewellery and it’s continued to be worn ever since, especially in the Art Nouveau and Art Deco eras and now again in modern times.

The Meaning of Slytherin’s Serpent Symbol

The Celtic meaning of the snake was as a symbol of secret knowledge, cunning and transformation, which seems very fitting for the house of Slytherin in Harry Potter.

The saying ‘slippery as a snake’ refers to its symbolic secretive nature and the way snakes disguise themselves while moving quickly. Snakes are therefore often thought to represent hiding, shadow realms and secrets. In Tarot the snake is a symbol of the Magician. The snake and the Magician in Tarot salute the energy behind the veil, which means they recognise the power of the unseen and use that power.

Harry Potter's House of Slytherin Snake Symbol

My Harry Potter Slytherin jewellery makes me think of a snake dragon cross – I wanted to explore this idea further and created this cufflink design inspired by the Slytherin snakes but this time crossed with a flobberworm. A flobberworm is another fantastical beast from Harry Potter – ten inches long and a herbivore!

I’ve also just completed this new snake necklace design. I wasn’t sure it was going to work but I’m so pleased with how the end design sits so beautifully as if it was always meant to be.

If you’d like to discover more about the jewellery I made for the Harry Potter films you can read the story behind Luna Lovegood’s Radish Earrings here or shop my Textured Long Pod Earrings which were worn by Malfada Hopkirk played by Sophie Thompson and by Hermione Granger played by Emma Watson when she ambushed Malfada in the Ministry of Magic in The Deathly Hollows (Part 1).