Indeed, the toi et moi – a deeply symbolic and sentimental style – boasts a long and storied past. The two-stone ring first gained notoriety back in the late 18th century, when French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte presented his bride-to-be and future empress, Joséphine de Beauharnais, with a yellow gold toi et moi engagement ring featuring two pear-cut stones, a blue sapphire and a white diamond. Though the couple divorced in 1810, the famed ring remained in the extended Bonaparte family, passed down through the generations for two centuries. Then, in March 2013, it was sold at the Osenat auction house in France for just under US$1 million – almost 50 times its US$20,000 estimate.

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More recently, the toi et moi has been thrust again into the spotlight by major celebrities including Kylie Jenner, Ariana Grande, Suki Waterhouse and – most famously – Megan Fox, who wears a split double-band design by the British jeweller Stephen Webster, commissioned by her husband Machine Gun Kelly and featuring an emerald, Fox’s birthstone, and a diamond, Machine Gun Kelly’s birthstone, set on interlocking thorn bands – a symbol that love is pain.

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Today, heritage jewellers continue to champion the classic French style. Graff, a specialist in rare and high-carat gemstones, offers a glittering interpretation of the toi et moi ring, Duet, sculpted in white gold and studded with round and pear-shaped diamonds. Parisian house Chaumet, meanwhile, celebrates empress Joséphine’s toi et moi style with its Joséphine Duo Éternel ring in white gold, diamond and sapphire. Elsewhere, independent labels, like Los Angeles-based Katkim and Anita Ko offer classic takes that stand out with their audacity, form and size, putting a refreshingly contemporary twist on the resurgent aesthetic.