Signet Brand
One can immediately tell the status of one who hails from the plains by a large piece of jewelry they are likely to have on their dominant hand, or at least upon their person. A ring, varied in design, that bears an identifying symbology in raised metal, that serves the dual purpose of identifying what herd an individual hails from, as well as the action that the title implies, an easy method of marking head of cattle or horse.
The cheapest are made from tin, or other base metals, and are similar in size to a traditional signet ring. Even as such, they are maintained with great care. More affluent individuals, especially those that need to work the herds themselves, may have rings that encircle two fingers, or three, or even four as the cattle barons tend to, looking like a set of golden and jewel-encrusted knuckle-dusters.
Worn by the Plainsfolk, signet brands are found at all levels of their society, even when one has not ostensible use for one, like the majority of "statics" or the plainsfolk who don't move around. While it is a decorative item intended to identify an individual, it is still one with a more material function. In the old days they were simple items, easily placed within a fire and used. These days, as mage-smiths become more and more available, it is not uncommon for the Signet to have a heating element enchanted into it. Of course, that's more commonly found on higher end rings.
Signet brands, being smaller than other brands, are used in a slightly different manner. Instead of the brand being used to mark a particular ownership at a singular instance, it is used to show a history of ownership. Particularly well-traded horses can have a veritable paragraph of small signet brands in a block or ribbon on their flanks.
This works in a similar fashion for people, though the Plainsfolk aren't branding themselves, of course. It is, however, considered socially acceptable to dispose of brands that have been gifted to you for employment and marriage, even if those things don't work out. People often take brands that they not longer wear and make them into some other form of jewelry. The buttons on a jacket, or linking them together to make a necklace. Socially, if there were questions about your character during employment with one ranch or another, but then it was found you didn't have the brand any longer, people would be more inclined to believe the questioner than yourself from the jump.
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