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Tick tock, tick tock...squinkkkk, I can hear the wheels clicking away up there in the cranial region of DC. They DO have a familiar 'ring' to them, visually and particularly auditor-ily speaking. Keep pondering away ( :

Ok here is the best I come up with.
They are some sort of bushing either for a doorbell or clock.
That is my final answer.

Final Answer. Love it. But unfortunately, not quite. The 'ring' might just happen to YOU. When they're used. Hmmm.......( :