Stephen Webster on his engagement ring for Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly

By Kim Parker

Machine Gun Kelly has described on an Instagram post that the “Love is Pain” engagement ring that he’s given to Megan Fox has a band of thorns on the inside.

Mais oui, it seems that toi et moi rings are having a moment dans le soleil right now, judging by their recent appearances on some A-list fingers. Machine Gun Kelly has just proposed to Megan Fox with a stunning engagement ring, created by the British jeweller Stephen Webster MBE.

The term ‘toi et moi’, which translates to ‘you and me’ in French, describes a particular ring with two gemstones set side-by-side on a looped band. These represent the joining of two lovers as one, which is apparently what attracted the singer to the style.

“I know tradition is one ring, but I designed it with Stephen Webster to be two. The emerald (her birth stone) and the diamond (my birth stone) set on two magnetic bands of thorns that draw together as two halves of the same soul. Forming the obscure heart that is our love. 1-11-2022,” the star, whose real name is Colson Baker, announced on Instagram.

According to Webster, the choice was made after Baker approached the jeweller for “a very special ring” that had true connections to both Fox and himself. “The resulting ring actually consists of two rings. Which, by the use of magnets buried within the gold, are attracted to each other and sit together perfectly on the finger. A detail that is both modern and quite extraordinary,” Webster explains. The jewel also contains two perfectly matched pear-shaped gems. One D-coloured antique-cut diamond and an untreated Columbian emerald, surrounded by pavé diamonds.

Kelly isn’t the first celebrity to have opted for the romantic ring style. Supermodel Emily Ratajkowski received an eye-catching toi et moi engagement ring from her now-husband, Sebastian Bear-McClard. A princess-cut diamond nestled against a pear-shaped stone. Ariana Grande, too, wears a toi et moi ring, with an oval-cut diamond set next to a single white pearl (which fans believe was repurposed from her late grandfather’s tie pin).

Although it has a slew of modern high-profile fans, the toi et moi actually has a romantic history that stretches back for hundreds of years. In 1796, Bonaparte proposed to Joséphine de Beauharnais with a toi et moi ring. A symbol of his passionate love for her, which made the style famous. It sold for almost a million US dollars at an auction in 2013. Jackie Kennedy also received a toi et moi ring from her then-fiancée John F Kennedy in 1953, which came from Van Cleef & Arpels. She revamped it a few years later, replacing a polite row of baguette-cut diamonds with fancier marquise-shaped gems, and adding round brilliant-cut diamonds around the central emerald and diamond stones.

Although tradition dictates that the central stones of a toi et moi ring are usually of similar size, modern jewellers are now opting to play with stones of contrasting size, cut and colour, which gives the design a fresher appeal. Jewellers such as Jemma Wynne, Anita Ko, Mateo New York, Messika and David Morris all offer magnificent versions of the theme. The latter even has one set with neon-bright Paraiba tourmalines surrounded by diamonds. Take note, budding romantics, the toi et moi ring isn’t going anywhere soon – something to bear in mind as we approach Valentine’s Day.

See the best alternative engagement rings here