The intimacy of secret messages is an age-old stroke of ingenuity between lovers. Furtively passed notes, hidden scribblings of love, clandestine meetings and proposals are as practiced and valuable now as in the days of Shakespeare. Secret messages have been etched onto jewellery of all kinds for thousands of years. Alternatively, the Victorians enjoyed attaching meanings to particular stones in order to spell out messages to a lover.

Think carefully about your message – do you want it to be a classic like “My love, my one, my only”, maybe the more contemporary “All you need is love”, the comical “Put me back on!”, or perhaps the very sweet “I see your halo.”

Here are a few more ideas – the date of a significant anniversary, wedding date, your names or nicknames, a poignant song lyric or poem, part of your wedding vows, a symbol (perhaps a heart or star), or even a word or phrase in another language that’s significant to you both.

Your engraving is for life, so try to steer away from gimmick-like messages – it may seem fun at the present but it might not always suit your relationship!