1cttw Double Diamond Bypass Ring in 14k White Gold

Two round brilliants of nearly equal size sit side by side at the centre of this ring, set on a slight diagonal and held in claws that let them almost touch, so the pair reads as one wide bright form rather than as two separate stones. Behind them the shank splits and crosses in a bypass, each half sweeping up to a point on either side and leaving the space beneath the stones open. That openwork is what keeps a full carat from looking heavy — light passes under the setting as well as across the top of it. At 4.10 grams in 14k white gold there is very little metal in the way, which is the point: the stones carry the ring and the mount barely registers.

Two stones set side by side is one of the older ideas in engagement jewelry. The French called it toi et moi — you and me — and Napoleon gave Josephine one in 1796; it has come back around because the symbolism is more legible than a solitaire's, two people weighted equally and set together. The split bypass also seats the stones lower and wider than a single centre stone of the same total weight would, which means it clears a glove and wears flatter than its size suggests. Isn't a ring that says something better than one that only sparkles?