Frustrating Ring

Years ago I commented on a ring a man was wearing and he explained to me it was a Turkish Wedding Ring.  This was the story he told me: When a knight went off to war he placed a ring on his wife's finger to ensure that she would remain faithful.  If she planned to be unfaithful, no man would have an affair with her if she was wearing a wedding ring, so she would take her ring off.  The ring would fall apart and she would not be able to put the ring back together again. The knight would then return and know she had been unfaithful.


Turkish Wedding Ring Apart

I loved the ring and the story and when I was given a puzzle ring, I wore it for years. Every time someone commented on my ring I would tell them the story, pull the ring off, show how it fell apart, and then quickly put it back together again.  Sometimes, I would let others try to put the ring together and was pleased when they could not do it!

For years I wore the silver ring until one of the bands thinned and broke.  About a year ago, I saw the ring in a catalog and purchased it.  Even though the ring came with instructions, I was not sure I could put it back together if it ever came apart. After having my ring for about two years, the instructions were lost but since I did not intend to take the ring off, I did not worry. One day, as I washed dishes in sudsy water I went to dry my hands on a towel and the ring slid off.  There I was, staring at four separate bands.

For two hours I attempted to put the ring back together.  I no longer had the instructions and my memory would not help me.  I remembered the first two steps but the last steps were completely gone from my brain. Getting on the Internet, I located the ring and instructions with a video on how to put the ring back together.  Still couldn't do it. I worked on it for another hour with no success.

It just so happened I was going on a trip from Denver to Boston, so I worked on getting the ring together. As we neared Boston, the bands slipped into place and my ring was whole again!  It had taken a total of six hours of fooling with the bands until they formed a ring. From now on I am making sure the ring stays on my finger!

Puzzle of my Turkish Wedding Ring Solved