Jewelry System — Relational Architecture for Things

--- ring: jewelry onyx: jewelry-system-doc pearl: Unified jewelry system — how rings, crowns, amulets, and staffs relate Things to each other citrine: state: complete ---

# Jewelry System — Relational Architecture for Things

The jewelry system defines how Things relate to each other through the `obsidian` gem. Every relationship a Thing has to the lattice is expressed as jewelry.

## The Four Jewelry Types

### Ring (💍) — Containment `obsidian.ring` points to the Ring Thing that contains this Thing. Rings are organizational namespaces — every Thing belongs to exactly one Ring.

```json { "obsidian": { "ring": "<ring-thing-uuid>" } } ```

### Crown (👑) — Category Affiliation `obsidian.crown` points to a Crown Thing that categorizes this Thing. Crowns are cross-cutting category labels — a Thing can belong to one crown.

```json { "obsidian": { "crown": "<crown-thing-uuid>" } } ```

### Amulet (📿) — Cross-Cutting Tags `obsidian.amulet` is an array of Thing UUIDs that tag this Thing. Multiple amulets allowed — used for flexible multi-classification.

```json { "obsidian": { "amulet": ["<uuid-1>", "<uuid-2>"] } } ```

### Staff (🏛️) — Authority Source `obsidian.staff` points to the Thing that grants authority to this Thing. Used for permission chains and delegation.

```json { "obsidian": { "staff": "<authority-thing-uuid>" } } ```

## Additional Obsidian Fields

| Field | Purpose | |---|---| | `obsidian.fid` | Parent FID for gap tracking | | `obsidian.target` | Witnessed Thing (for moons) | | `obsidian.block_id` | Block containment (for chips) |

## Self-Referential Rings

Rings are Things. A Ring's `obsidian.ring` points to its parent Ring, creating a self-referential hierarchy:

``` Thing → Ring → Material Ring → Category Ring → Root ```

This enables infinite nesting with no schema changes.

## Beings Wear Jewelry Too

Beings reference Things via the same obsidian pattern. A Being's session can be linked to a Crown that defines their role, granting access to Things that require that Crown affiliation.

## Status

Fully implemented. `ring_id` column is deprecated — all relationships use `obsidian` gem. The jewelry chain is the canonical way to traverse the lattice.