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Original poster

What to do with my engagement ring? Divorced.

64 replies

newyearnewlife2023 · 01/01/2023 11:40

A new year and a new mind set. I've been divorced for 5 years yet held onto my engagement ring and sometimes wore it on the other hand. I now realize it was part of me not letting go after the shock of my husband leaving me.
What did you do with your ring once you got divorced?

OP posts:
CircleofWillis · 01/01/2023 15:00

orbitalcrisis · 01/01/2023 14:46

My parents are divorced and I was rather upset my mother sold her ring. Their marriage may not have lasted forever but produced us children which I hoped was a positive. That and it was a family heirloom! She really had no right.

I'm sorry you feel upset that your mother sold her ring but that is what it was - HER ring. It doesn't become an heirloom unless it has been passed down. Your mother had every right to do whatever she felt like with her own property. Especially one which might have had strong emotions attached.

CircleofWillis · 01/01/2023 15:13

I think I misunderstood as well. If it really was an family heirloom (I.e. it had been handed down from a previous family member) your mum should have given it back to your dad.

Sweetchops22 · 01/01/2023 15:19

How did people manage to sell theirs? I tried recently with no joy. Pawn shops were offering me buttons too

BanjoVio · 01/01/2023 15:22

Sweetchops22 · 01/01/2023 15:19

How did people manage to sell theirs? I tried recently with no joy. Pawn shops were offering me buttons too

I went to a second hand jewellers and they bought it. They sell jewellery for £100s up to £10,000s so you’d be surprised by what they take in terms of second hand stock. It needed the GIA certificate but that was it.

MoscowMules · 01/01/2023 15:24

I kept all mine. 3 of them to be exact.

What can I say I see shiny things and say "yes" 🤣

I wear them when I fancy, if they go with a certain outfit.

Diamonds are forever, husbands and finances not so much. 😬🤷🏻‍♀️

Selling on you won't get their value, probably just their weight of gold. So it's a "loss".

BanjoVio · 01/01/2023 15:36

MoscowMules · 01/01/2023 15:24

I kept all mine. 3 of them to be exact.

What can I say I see shiny things and say "yes" 🤣

I wear them when I fancy, if they go with a certain outfit.

Diamonds are forever, husbands and finances not so much. 😬🤷🏻‍♀️

Selling on you won't get their value, probably just their weight of gold. So it's a "loss".

I think the resale value depends on the stone/s primarily. If you have a .66ct D colour graded VVSI with perfect table/depth proportions you’ll get a heck of a lot more than a .66ct H colour that’s heavily included with a disproportionate table. Or, perhaps worse, with no certificate.

Alcemeg · 01/01/2023 15:54

I never got an engagement ring as my ex-DH didn't think it was worth buying one 🤣

My wedding ring, I threw into a river in Wales.

A year or so later,a friend threw his wedding ring into the river at the same spot.

Those Welsh rivers are full of treasure!

80s · 01/01/2023 16:09

I found the box from my old wedding ring so I gave it back to my exh the day we got divorced. Felt good partly as a symbol and partly because he was then the one who had to get rid of it somehow :D

Fuuuuuckit · 01/01/2023 16:18

I got mine reset into a new ring.

Previously it was sat in a drawer with some other old jewellery and never saw the light of day. I now wear it everyday.

ProperCupofTea · 01/01/2023 16:18

I had my wedding ring remade into a different piece of jewellery . (Didn't have an engagement ring). Wedding ring was a one off design with semi precious stones, hand made by a local jeweller from our joint ideas.

I feel no emotional connection to the new earrings & treat them just as dress jewellery. Could definitely not have worn the old ring, even on other hand, as I was too sentimental about it.

Purplecatshopaholic · 01/01/2023 16:20

I kept mine and wear it on my right hand sometimes. It’s a beautiful ring and wouldn’t be worth anything to sell really, so wanted to keep it.

sanityisamyth · 01/01/2023 16:30

Lots of jewellers I spoke to said mine wasn't worth anything, even though it had a decent sapphire and 2 diamonds. It's an old family ring. Not sure what to do with it!

theresnoonequitelikegrandma · 01/01/2023 16:38

I sold mine recently to a friend who makes jewellery by recycling old pieces as a hobby. Really like the idea of something new and beautiful being created from it rather than staying in my jewellery box as a memory of an unhappy first marriage.

Isabelle70 · 01/01/2023 16:49

Mine had 2 0.25ct diamonds in the white gold setting and was worth nothing really so I had them set into a Tiffany styled diamond by the yard necklace. I did have to buy an extra diamond to get 3 stones. However, it flips like crazy and I no longer wear it as it drove me scatty and I now wear a 1ct diamond pendant that I brought with my inheritance money from Dm.
I have been thinking about resetting the diamonds into a hinged bangle and have a cheap one as a test run to see if I like wearing a bangle. In the new year I might go and see the jeweller and see what he says. If it's not cost effective I will see about selling the necklace on eBay and using those funds to buy something new.

Seasider2017 · 01/01/2023 16:52

I had mine (plain diamond) made into necklace

JaceLancs · 01/01/2023 16:55

I wear mine with wedding ring and 2 eternity rings on right hand

been and done it. · 01/01/2023 17:01

I chucked both out of a car window on the Reading Road after I found out my husband had been cheating on me.

Newlifestartingatlast · 01/01/2023 17:03

I was married for 30 years. My ring finger has permanent indents form wearing rings for all that time. Even without rings on you can see I was married - and I guess it’ll be like that till I die.
so I still wear my engagement ring and (ha!) my eternity ring on left hand. They don’t fit on my right hand . I love the eternity ring (I choose for my 50th birthday anyway) and the engagement ring was actually form my maternal grandmother anyway,
. They’re worth very little. So I’ll keep them and continue to wear as and when I want
Don’t give a stuff what people might think about it being a bit strange. It’s a bit strange to have indents on my bare finger anyway 🤷🏼‍♀️

been and done it. · 01/01/2023 17:04

orbitalcrisis · 01/01/2023 14:46

My parents are divorced and I was rather upset my mother sold her ring. Their marriage may not have lasted forever but produced us children which I hoped was a positive. That and it was a family heirloom! She really had no right.

She had every right...her ring her choice

Drinknumber11 · 01/01/2023 17:06

Tried to sell mine … turns out the diamond was fake. Best offer was £25. His wedding band cost me almost £3000! Can you imagine how stupid I felt!

mycatsanutter · 01/01/2023 17:08

Think I threw it in a drawer somewhere , won't do anything with it

seperatedmum · 01/01/2023 17:11

The only ring I had left was worth £11! eleven of your English pounds! there's more expensive rings in Claire's! cash converters they didn't even want my ID for that piddling value🥴 I just wanted it gone. think I just kept the money for spare change. happy new year 🫠

Alcemeg · 01/01/2023 17:17

Drinknumber11 · 01/01/2023 17:06

Tried to sell mine … turns out the diamond was fake. Best offer was £25. His wedding band cost me almost £3000! Can you imagine how stupid I felt!

OMG it's like that Maupassant short story, The Necklace!

I hope you asked him for the wedding band back!!!!!!!!!

orbitalcrisis · 01/01/2023 17:57

@been and done it. Legally yes. But morally and emotionally, selling a family heirloom that could be passed down to your children was really shitty. That was a part of my family's history.

Mels101 · 01/01/2023 18:02

Food for thought in this thread. Maybe I will think about it a bit more