Origin Story: Howl's Moving Castle Ring

January 6, 2024

Jewellery holds significant meaning and symbolism for the wearer, making it a cherished possession. Knowing the background story of the hows and whys of the creation of the jewellery piece you are acquiring from Le Dragon Argenté is an important part of adding meaning and magic to the whole. In this blog I present the inspiration for my Howl's Moving Castle ring and how it all came about as a ring in my shop!

The Film: Howl's Moving Castle

Howl's Moving Castle is a 2004 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It is loosely based on the 1986 novel of the same name by British author Diana Wynne Jones. It tells the story of Sophie, a young milliner who is turned into an elderly woman by a witch who enters her shop and curses her. She encounters a wizard named Howl and gets caught up in his resistance to fighting for the king.

(Promotional Poster from Studio Ghibli/IMDb)

After Howl asks Sophie to go and see Madam Suliman, he gives her his ring with the red gem. Not only does this ring symbolize Howl's trust, but also it also represents Howl's desire to protect Sophie from danger. This touching moment shows that Sophie and Howl have grown closer to each other. Howl's magical ring leads Sophie back to Howl's castle. The ring connects to Howl's heart, which is in Calcifer. The ring led Sophie home and to Howl's heart at the same time. This also symbolizes the trust Howl has in Sophie because he led her to his heart, which is the most fragile part of Howl. Letting Sophie into his heart and leading her back to the castle revealed how much Howl cares for Sophie and how much he changes throughout the movie. Wherever Howl is, Sophie will be truly at home, and vice versa.

(Photo Credit Studio Ghibli/IMDb)

Near the end of the movie, the stone in Sophie's ring changes from red to blue and casts a blue light toward a mysterious entryway. The film reveals that it's the doorway to Howl's past, which shows how he and Calcifer met. During this pivotal moment in the movie, Sophie discovers how to save Howl and get his heart back from Calcifer. It's all thanks to the ring that led her back to Howl's childhood, which is actually the official first meeting between the two! The ring Howl gave Sophie was the biggest clue to finding out how to rescue him. It also represents the deep, long connection between the two main characters, even if Sophie didn't realize it herself until much later in her life. You can even say it was their own "red string of fate," though it was more like a red-stoned ring of fate. Close enough!

Le Dragon Argenté's Howl's Moving Castle Ring

Back in 2017 I was at Anime Next in Atlantic City when I was approached about making a ring for his Howl Cosplay in silver. After going back and forth we settled on a design based on the anime. He loved it, but I didn't like how the setting came out. So I remade the design in 2018 with a more defined braid and a notched-edged bezel I carved by hand to make it easier to set different shaped stones, be it faceted/diamond cut or cabochon/domed cut.

I later made this ring design without the braid for those who wanted just the stone setting. I also wanted to offer stone options that no one usually does, be it natural gemstones or imitation birthstones.

In the fall of 2020 Netflix got the rights to show the Studio Gibli movies, and a new fan base discovered this beautiful movie and everyone went crazy for it. And thanks to Tiktok someone had reviewed my ring there and people discovered I made it! Folks went crazy for my ring design, and I went from making 1-2 a month max to 10-20/week!

The biggest difference between my design and others is that I created this for a fellow fan, not because it was popular. Also being a rock/gem hound I love making this ring with a variety of different gemstones, not just imitation ruby and sapphire!

I hope you all enjoyed reading more about my Howl's Moving Castle ring's origin story. It's one of my favourite pieces to make and customize!

- Stephenie

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