This 15th-century gold ring, held by the British Museum, turns grammar into a pickup line. The broad hoop is engraved in French with an inscription that conjugates romance in Latin cases, while the interior replies: “If love is infinitive, I wish to be its relative.” Inside the band, a woman holds a squirrel on a leash — a medieval symbol of inconstancy, kept tethered.

In an era where everything skews disposable and obvious, it’s hard to fathom that a ring can be this clever. Seven grams of gold, a sapphire bead, and a love letter that requires a grammar textbook to decode. If you know, you know — but even if you don’t, there’s romance in the mystery.