Well let's look at the nature of rings in Tolkien's works.
Barahir had a ring that Beren used to show Finrod his connection with him. This ring was not neccessarily a ring of power, but it did serve a purpose.
So would Saruman's ring be a ring of power? Or could it possibly be more a symbolic ring? It's obvious that Saruman was imitating Sauron a little, making orcs and turning Isengard into hell on earth, so why not try to imitate a ring.
It's plausable to think that in making this ring, Saruman is showing that he believes he will one day own the one ring. I suppose an analogy would be... drawing pictures of a car you one day wish to own.
Just a thought.
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