If you’ve not heard of it, the idea is quite simple. It involves repurposing engagement and wedding rings, using parts of them to create new jewellery. In the hands of a skilled jeweller, precious stones and other components can be turned into new bespoke rings, bracelets and even necklaces.

The aim is to mark a clean break following separation. Rings can often be a painful and upsetting symbol of what went wrong, and many people don’t quite know what to do with them once the divorce is finalised.

In a recent piece by the Financial Times, recent divorcee Lydia Hart from Devon explained how she marked her 30^th birthday with a piece of bespoke ‘divorce jewellery’. Her platinum engagement and wedding rings had been gathering dust in a box under the bed, until she decided to use them to create something new.

She headed to a London-based goldsmith and asked for the diamonds to be incorporated into a stunning new yellow gold cocktail ring. The design also featured Hart’s birthstone, ruby, along with other multi-coloured tourmaline gemstones.

Hart told the Financial Times:

“My journey since my divorce was very much one of healing and having therapy and reclaiming my own sense of self after that turbulent time,”

“And so it felt amazing to celebrate the journey that I’d been on in a symbolic way: transforming what had an attachment to my previous marriage into something new — in the same way that I felt like I’d transformed as a person.”

The trend for divorce jewellery seems to be on the rise, fuelled by celebrity figures sharing their own stories of empowerment and fresh starts on social media. One famous name associated with the trend is US model and actor Emily Ratajkowski, who showed off a matching pair of staggeringly large and sparkling rings on Instagram – captioned with just the words ‘divorce rings’.

The rings were made by New York jewellery Alison Lou, which is said to be wanting to trademark the term ‘divorce ring’ and make it their speciality. Ratajkowski asked for a two-stone engagement ring to be turned into two new pieces, following the end of her marriage to actor and producer Sebastian Bear-McClard.

Jewellery and divorce – who gets to keep the rings?

While pieces of jewellery – and particularly rings – have a strong symbolic link to marriages and civil partnerships, they can also have a significant role in divorce.

It’s common for couples to overlook jewellery when listing assets, or to disagree over who gets to keep what. The issue of ownership is often a source of disagreement, especially in relation to engagement and wedding rings which are often bought by one person and gifted to another.

There’s also the matter of valuing jewellery, which can be difficult for second-hand pieces. What’s more, it can be virtually impossible to put a price on the emotional or sentimental value of certain pieces.

This is why it’s so crucial to seek expert legal advice, to help you list and value assets properly and reach a financial settlement that works for everyone.

Get in touch with Wirral divorce solicitor Tracey Miller Family Law for a free initial consultation. Call us on 0151 515 3036 or 07795 060 211.