Editor’s Note
**Editor’s Note:** Sarah Chapelle explores the intentional symbolism behind Taylor Swift’s engagement ring, highlighting the surprising choice of a small, independent female jeweler.
It’s intentional, symbolic and surprisingly small-brand.
by: Sarah Chapelle – Sep 9th, 2025
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When Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” with Travis Kelce turned into an engagement, all eyes turned to Kindred Lubeck, the New York jeweller behind Artifex Fine Jewelry who designed her ring. Some were surprised by the choice to tap a small, independent, female designer for one of the most famous women on the planet. But longtime followers of Swift’s style saw it as another fitting choice for her.
Swift’s emotional excess, heard in her lyrics, also comes through in her fashion and jewellery. The Eras Tour proved this with its costumes honouring each album—a journey I captured in my best-selling book Taylor Swift Style, which charts her fashion evolution. Her visual world is packed with references for fans to copy, just as her songs are filled with emotions listeners connect to. It makes sense that her most meaningful piece of jewellery would carry the same intentional style.
Swift often references jewellery in her music—initial necklaces in “Call It What You Want,” rubies in “Maroon,” opals in “Ivy”—so it’s no surprise these motifs show up in her style. Her pieces range from bold, like Travis’s jersey number “87” rendered in diamonds and yellow gold at Super Bowl LVIII in a Stephanie Gottlieb varsity necklace, to subtle, like garnet and football-shaped diamond game-day jewellery or a FoundRae opal “Forever & Always” pendant that nods to both her fiancé’s birthstone and one of her own song titles. Kelce hinted at his connection to the piece when he admitted that his favourite song off the forthcoming Showgirl album is the third track: “Opalite.”
While we’re a far cry from Swift’s teenage days of daubing her arm with Sharpied lyrics from her favourite songs, her penchant for literally wearing her heart on her sleeve (or finger, wrist, or neck) hasn’t waned. On the red carpet, she’ll lean on cocktail-style baubles, often loaned from huge recognizable names under the LVMH umbrella. Off-stage, her daily jewellery comes from independent and women-founded brands, much like Lubeck, who create pieces that are delicate, layerable and imbued with personal meaning. Unlike her award show gems, you’ll come to recognize her personal pieces by their frequent reappearances. Below are some of Swift’s most sentimental pieces straight from her jewellery box, as identified by a dedicated reporter of her style.
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This collaborative piece by golfer Michelle Wie and Wove Made got its on-field closeup at the 2024 AFC Championships. The bracelet was commissioned by Kelce—who has a bracelet of his own to match—and is modelled after the friendship bracelets fans would trade at Swift’s Eras Tour shows. Wove Made, a small, female-founded team of just eight, holds additional special resonance as it is founded in Swift’s own home state of Pennsylvania. The diamond initials, TNT, confirmed the couple’s nickname: a cheeky “explosive” reference to their shared first initial. The nickname even made its way into the pair’s engagement announcement, courtesy of a dynamite emoji.
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To dress the part when cheering on the Chiefs, Taylor will often pile on jewellery as red as her preferred shade of lipstick. Garnets and rubies are typically her stones of choice, like this ring by female-founded Canadian brand Mejuri. Even its name nods to something precious and built to last—the kind you’d pass down like folklore.
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Another example of Taylor’s burning red game day jewellery. This piece, worn to Super Bowl LVIII, follows Taylor’s storied and sentimental playbook to jewellery. Sourced from a female-founded small brand based in Los Angeles, the deep red carnelian stone nods to Chiefs colours and the heart shape carries a clear romantic undertone. The final kicker? One could poetically parallel the brand name “The Last Line” with her wearing the style to the final game of the football season.
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An oft-repeated pair of earrings that combines many Swiftian motifs: an initial and a heart. As proof of their place of priority in her jewellery collection, these even made their way into her engagement announcement outfit. The medallion’s intricate engraving even nods to Swift’s art deco leanings—a detail that perhaps influenced her decision to choose a jeweller like Lubeck, who is celebrated for this very style, for the most significant piece of jewellery she could own.
This ring by Tiffany & Co first appeared during the summer of 2024 on the European leg of the Eras Tour. Swift normally refrains from wearing personal pieces on stage, but couldn’t help having a piece of home close to her. The mirrored “T”s double down on the brand’s iconic motif and act as a subtle and dainty play on the couple’s matching initials—a touchdown for TNT. Perhaps this piece also gives us insight into her mental landscape as, at that time, she was deep into the process of recording The Life of a Showgirl.
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Lorraine Schwartz has long been a red carpet favourite for celebrities, including actress Blake Lively who—until recently—had a close and steady friendship with Swift. Swift has worn her custom pieces on many a red carpet, but none have been so saucy as the teardrop ruby and “T” initial hipchain she wore to the 2025 Grammys. Looped under the hem of her custom Vivienne Westwood corset dress, the accessory was an unexpected twist on her longstanding love of the monogram. Not content with just one outing, the chain was shortly thereafter reset into a necklace that Swift wore to Super Bowl LIX.
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