Zucker may not live with his treasures, but he still gets enormous pleasure from them during his visits to the museums. “It’s like seeing relatives you haven’t seen for years—and in a different country,” he says. The rings commemorate births and deaths, engagements and marriages. “There is so much emotion in rings. Of all jewelry, they are the most personal.”

"Lord of the Rings" originally appeared in the September 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's September 2008 Table of Contents.