Asked about her ring, Chung described something far older than most engagement rings: a Tudor piece with a stone like those worn at Henry VIII's court.
Alexa Chung has confirmed her engagement to the actor Tom Sturridge, telling More or Less magazine that he gave her "a beautiful Tudor ring", which she described as "like a table-cut diamond". The interview was reported on 26 October 2026 by Extra and others. The table cut is one of the earliest faceted diamond cuts, worn in Tudor England.
What she said
Speaking to More or Less magazine, Chung said Sturridge "knows how much I adore vintage and antiques" and chose an antique ring for her. She linked it to a visit to the National Portrait Gallery, where she noticed similar rings on the hands of sitters from Henry VIII's court, Anne Boleyn among them, Extra reported. She also joked that her hairstylist had made wishes over the ring, adding that she hoped it was not haunted. The couple have been together since 2022.
What a table cut is
Before the modern brilliant, diamond cutters worked with the stone's natural shape. A rough diamond often grows as an octahedron, two pyramids base to base. The earliest faceted form simply polished those points (the point cut). The table cut went a step further: the top point was ground away to leave a flat, square or rectangular face, the "table", above a deep pyramid below. Table-cut diamonds appear in European jewellery from the 15th century and were the fashionable form through the Tudor period, which is why they show up so often in portraits of the time. Set in gold, often with black or coloured enamel on the shoulders, they look dark and glassy rather than sparkling, because the cut is made to show the stone's surface, not to return light.
From table cut to old cut
Over the following centuries cutters added facets. The rose cut, flat underneath with a domed, faceted top, became common in the 17th and 18th centuries, followed by the cushion-shaped old mine cut and, in the late 19th century, the old European cut. You can see examples in our rose cut and old cut jewellery. Genuine 16th century rings survive in small numbers, many of them now in museums, so most antique engagement rings on the market today are Georgian, Victorian or later.
Buying an antique engagement ring
With a ring of any age, the questions are the same: is the stone original to the mount, has the shank been replaced or resized, how worn are the claws or collet, and does the style match the period claimed? Early stones are often foiled or closed-backed, which needs care when cleaning. Our antique engagement rings buying guide covers what to check, and you can browse our antique rings. If you have an old ring you are thinking of selling, send us a few photos and we will tell you what it is worth, free and with no obligation.
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Quotes as reported by Extra from Alexa Chung's interview with More or Less magazine. Mozeris Fine Antiques is not connected with anyone named. No photograph is used because no licensed image was available.
