DATE: Art Nouveau, c.1910

Wonderful Art Nouveau "toi et moi" engagement ring with elegant crossover shoulders. It's set with a vivid blue sapphire and a chunky old mine cut diamond - the "you" and the "me". It dates from the early 20th century, circa 1910, crafted in 18 karat yellow gold with platinum claws (diamond) and platinum-tipped shoulders. It recently occurred to me that, as per my high school French knowledge (v. limited, I preferred Latin), "you" should be "tu" and "toi" means "three". Turns out "you" can be either "tu", "te", or "toi", depending on the situation. Turns out in English "you" is used as subject and object personal pronoun, but in French different words are used situationally: "tu" is always object; "te" is always subject; "toi" is either indirect object (when the object is placed after the verb), or, as in the case of "toi et moi", subject in specific constructions when the subject is emphasised. And obviously "three" is "trois". So "toi et moi" = YOU and me.

STONES 

Natural Blue Sapphire - 0.75ct (calculated)

Old Mine Cut Diamond - 0.55ct (calculated), G/H colour, SI2 clarity

MEASUREMENTS 

Head: 12.0 x 7.3mm

Width of band: 2.2mm

WEIGHT 

3.5g

MARKS 

Stamped 18ct

CONDITION 

Very good, light wear commensurate with age. A few nibbles to the facet edges of the sapphire