Do you’ve got post-divorce marriage ceremony or engagement rings burning a gap in your jewellery field? Be part of the membership.
About 43 p.c of once-married individuals have been divorced by the point they’re of their fifties. Almost 800,000 individuals divorced within the U.S. alone in 2017.
That’s plenty of rings loaded with emotional baggage and uncooked materials. Possibly it’s time to do one thing with these rings.
I’ve a type of rings. Generally after I open my ring drawer, mild glints off its princess-cut diamonds and I believe: “I ought to do one thing with that.” Then I shut the drawer. Form of a metaphor for what occurs after I consider the wedding itself.
So, what can we do with our undesirable marriage ceremony rings? I’ve been asking jewelers and divorced mates.
A marriage ring is loaded with reminiscences, symbolism, and upset goals. Possibly turning it into chilly, onerous money is simply what you want. Or perhaps you want one thing else.
The newer your divorce, the extra therapeutic bodily transformation may be. And the extra seemingly you might be to do one thing dumb.
1. Toss it within the river? No! Don’t do it! I cringe every time I see that scene in a film. What a waste of treasured materials. It’d really feel good within the second to make a dramatic gesture like that however don’t be fooled. It’s nonetheless down there, honey. Solely now it’s buried within the muck doing no person any good, least of all you.
2. Remodel it. Sure! My good friend Adrienne took her marriage ceremony ring to an area jeweler after her divorce, had the diamond eliminated, added a pair new stones and turned it right into a one-of-a-kind ring for her center finger. She’s now fortunately remarried. She would say be taught out of your errors and transfer on, ideally with higher jewellery.
3. Take it in for appraisal. If it’s an vintage or made by a designer with identify worth, it is a good place to begin. Your ring could also be value greater than the sum of its components.
4. Put it up for public sale. If it does have designer or historic worth, it is perhaps value paying a vendor’s payment to verify it reaches a large viewers of potential collectors. Discover an public sale home that focuses on that model or interval.
5. Pawn it. In case your divorce left you strapped, this can be the quickest option to make that ring cowl your rapid bills. Park it and borrow in opposition to it. You’ll be able to revisit what to do with it later, once you’re in a greater place.
6. Promote it for gold. If it incorporates substantial gold, have it weighed and promote it by the gram. Gold is promoting for practically $1,800 per ounce and has been at peak worth for the previous yr. It is a nice time to promote gold jewellery. Be sure you’re coping with a good enterprise and have an thought of the ring’s market worth earlier than you commit.
7. Flip it into one thing you actually need. Use the proceeds to high off the down fee on a automotive or e book a visit you would by no means get your ex to take with you. Splurge on one thing fabulous and impractical.
8. Take a flame to it. Personally, I believe that is the very best thought. In contrast to torching your Vera Wang robe which can flip it right into a nugatory pile of ash, torching your rings leaves you with the uncooked materials for… a model new piece of knickknack!
In case you can’t do the torching your self, most studio jewelers will probably be completely happy to do it when you watch, after which assist you remodel it into one thing particular, custom-made for you (with no partner trying over your shoulder).
My good friend Jim Dailing, an Oregon-based studio jeweler and instructor, often holds an occasion he calls “The Nice Ring Meltdown.” Round Valentine’s Day, he invitations individuals to deliver their rings to his studio and take a torch to them. By doing that, they’re actually burning the importance out of the unique ring and returning it to its elemental state.
Then Jim helps them design that metallic ingot into a hoop or pendant they’ll put on now – or give away.
I’m previous desirous to torch my former marriage through that outdated ring of mine. I simply don’t care that a lot anymore. However throughout the interval after I was choosing up the items of my life, it will have been satisfying and significant. Having finished it himself, Jim says it’s surprisingly therapeutic to show your marriage ceremony ring into molten metallic and begin over once more.
I would wish to rearrange these diamonds and gold into one thing else although. Our society imposed this image of marital dedication on diamonds. However what are they actually? Diamonds are the toughest substance recognized to man. Pure diamonds like mine had been shaped over billions of years, below unimaginable stress and warmth. And what’s gold? A uncommon component, probably the most malleable of all metals, immune to corrosion.
That feels like a recipe for an enduring marriage doesn’t it? Oh properly. Again to the jeweler’s workbench with you, little band of gold, little pile of diamonds.
I wish to take my marriage ceremony ring again to its components and make one thing lovely out of it, one thing sturdy however malleable, bolder than the unique, extra distinctive, much less constrained. What’s going to you do with yours?
Jewellery featured on his web page was designed and made by Jim Dailing, Gary Roe and CEEM Design.