When these clients came to me, they knew they wanted their ring to feel old, warm and a little unexpected. Not two perfectly matched diamonds. Not bright white stones. And definitely nothing that felt like it had just come out of a jewelry case.

We started with the stones — because with a ring like this, I think they should lead the design. We looked for diamonds with age, character and warmth: old cuts, unusual shapes, softer tones and all of those tiny imperfections that make vintage diamonds feel like they’ve already lived a life.

We ended up pairing an old-cut round diamond with an elongated vintage diamond, both with their own shape, color and personality. They aren’t supposed to match. That’s sort of the point.

The design is a Toi et Moi, French for you and me — two stones sitting together, traditionally representing two individual people becoming a pair. The style has been around for centuries, but its most famous early moment came in 1796, when Napoleon Bonaparte proposed to Joséphine de Beauharnais with a gold ring set with a pear-shaped diamond and pear-shaped blue sapphire.

And I think that history is exactly why I love a Toi et Moi so much. It has all the romance and sentiment of an antique engagement ring without feeling overly traditional. There really aren't strict rules to the design — the stones can be different cuts, colors, sizes or even completely different gemstones.

One of the other iconic versions came more than 150 years later, when John F. Kennedy gave Jacqueline Bouvier a Van Cleef & Arpels Toi et Moi featuring an emerald-cut diamond beside an emerald-cut emerald. Different era, completely different ring, same idea.

For this one, we wanted to take that history and make it feel like them. Two old diamonds. Two completely different personalities. Warm gold. Heavy bezels. Nothing overly polished or precious.

A little old world, a little modern, and very much one of one.

Which is pretty much everything I want a custom ring to be.