Designed as two stylised hearts, set with a foil-backed pear-shaped emerald and ruby respectively, within a border of rose-cut diamonds, below a crown motif set with rose-cut stones and a arc of seed pearls, the gold shank of graduated pierced scrolling design, circa 1750, size K.

In the mid 18th Century, the French term 'alliance' was commonly used for rings heralding a wedding (literally meaning alliance and still used to this day for a wedding band in France) and a popular design was that of two hearts, often in contrasting colours, set close to one another to symbolise the union of two hearts.

The exchange of rings to symbolise love dates back to ancient times and over the ages these have changed in tone (religious, romantic, promises of faithfulness or acknowledgement of duty), design, and even placement (around the neck, index fingers, middle fingers, and eventually the fourth finger ... of either hand) and its evolution into the fashion for rings being exchanged to signify marriage or the desire for/promise of marriage is something that has become deeply imprinted in our collective psyche.