Beyoncé re-gifts ring given to her by Jay-Z to a museum
Listen, we've all known for a while that Beyoncé is a name that'll appear in history books for years to come.
But, now a piece of her jewellery is sitting alongside that of history’s other female MVPs — Elizabeth I, Catherine the Great, and the Empress Josephine.
Beyoncé rather generously donated a butterfly ring given to her as a gift by Jay-Z to London's Victoria and Albert (V&A) museum.
The "papillon ring" — designed by London-based jeweller Glenn Spiro a.k.a. "G"—is formed of titanium wings, encrusted with green tsavorites, and surrounded with diamonds. According to the Guardian, the ring is "one of a number of G pieces Beyoncé owns, mostly gifted by Jay-Z".
In a statement, the V&A described the ring as "an example of naturalism in contemporary fine jewellery." Of course, it does help that the hand it once adorned belongs to Beyoncé.
The V&A's jewellery curator Clare Phillips said the museum is "proud" to have received a gift from Queen Bey. And, rightly so. It's not everyday one is bestowed with a gift from Bey herself.
"Beyoncé is a figure whose personal style the V&A is proud to represent, and a gift from whose personal collection we are honoured to receive," said Phillips.
"The papillon ring she has gifted is an exquisite example of contemporary jewellery design by one of Britain’s master jewellers," she added.
The ring now sits proudly on display in the William and Judith Bollinger Jewellery Gallery at the V&A in London, "alongside jewels associated with some of history’s most notable women."
I suppose that's one method of re-gifting!
Topics Music Celebrities
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
