Badali Narya Review: Gandalf's Ring of Fire in Silver

The ring in brief

Badali Jewelry's Narya is a sterling silver ring with a 12 x 10 mm lab-grown ruby held by a pattern of flames, made under a licence from Middle-earth Enterprises. It starts at $199 and is cast to order in Badali's workshop in Utah. A gold version starts at $2,899.

In Tolkien's books Narya is the Ring of Fire, kept by Círdan and given to Gandalf. Its stone is red as fire; the books do not name the metal of the band. Our Narya page tells the story and lists the other versions.

What we know

From the Badali Jewelry product page:

• Design. A flame pattern circles the band and holds the stone, for the Ring of Fire.
• Metal. 92.5% sterling silver, rhodium plated. Polished silver as standard, with black hand-antiqued or flame-coloured enamel finishes as options.
• Stone. A faceted 12 x 10 mm lab-grown ruby as standard; a natural garnet cabochon or a lab-grown star ruby cabochon cost extra.
• Dimensions. 17.3 mm wide around the setting, narrowing to 3.5 mm at the back. The setting stands 6.9 mm above the inside of the band, and the band is 1.6 mm thick at its thinnest point.
• Weight. About 6 grams, varying with size.
• Sizes. US 5 to 20 in whole, half and quarter sizes; sizes from 13.5 cost a little more.
• Production and packaging. Made to order by Badali's team in Utah, usually within 5 to 10 business days. Badali box and card of authenticity; stamped with a maker's mark, metal content and copyright.

What we haven't verified

We have not held this ring. We cannot tell you how the 17 mm setting feels on a slim finger, how well the enamel option wears, or how the lab-grown ruby looks in daylight compared with the product photos. The figures above are Badali's.

Badali's page describes Narya as a gold ring. In the sources we checked, Tolkien describes only the red stone, so the silver standard version is not less faithful than the gold one; the choice is about budget and taste.

Who it suits

This is a ring for fans of Gandalf who want something that looks like a Ring of Power rather than a plain band. Its size range, up to US 20, is the widest of the licensed Elven rings we track. Because each ring is cast to order, check your size first with our ring size converter and the One Ring size guide.

How it compares

Badali's Vilya uses the same 12 x 10 mm stone size with a lab-grown sapphire, at the same starting price. Jens Hansen sells an unlicensed Narya-style ring under another name, and we found no Narya from Wētā Workshop or The Noble Collection. For how licensing works, see is this the real One Ring?, and for Nenya, the third Elven ring, our Badali Nenya review. The full list of rings is on the Lord of the Rings rings page. Badali also makes a licensed One Ring; One Ring replicas compared shows how it stacks up against the film versions.