Dublin-based jewelery designer Chupi Sweetman says the trend is about hope for the future
In the post on Instagram, the model and actress shows off her two rings which were repurposed from her own two-stone engagement ring from her ex-husband.
Chupi Sweetman, who is behind the successful jewelery line named after her, Chupi, said for most people, a divorce ring is an “opportunity to choose a ring that is really for them”.
She believes it symbolizes “honoring all the moments in between, not just the perfect ones”.
Ms Sweetman said she was “so excited” about seeing 32-year-old model Ratajkowski sharing her own divorce ring on social media.
“If you asked anyone 10 years ago, what was the divorce ring? No one would have known or talked about it. It comes back to this thing about diamonds, about it being an old-fashioned industry designed by men for men,” she said.
“We used to only value the Hallmark moments in women’s lives, but now, as women, our lives are so much more complex.
“Divorce rings have really come into their own in the last few years. Jewelery is ultimately the business of hope.”
The jewelery designer told the Irish Independent that it can depend on whether the person decides to repurpose their own ring, but most people decide to put it away and choose a ring that is about “hope and tomorrow”.
She says the rings are often unusual and something completely different from their engagement ring.
Chupi now has a designated place on their website for divorce rings which come in different shapes and sizes.
One features black diamonds, while another features a crown, signet rings and eternity rings. It’s a statement piece, but not a big diamond which looks like an engagement.
Popular shapes include marquise diamonds and rectangular shapes. So far, women have been the only ones coming in for divorce rings in Chupi.
While the majority of her business is focused on the category of engagement and love, she says divorce rings really started to become a thing in the past few years.
“Instead of it being about shame, people are reclaiming it and being about your tomorrow,” she said.
“It’s not about buying it for misery. It’s about recognizing that it wasn’t forever anymore and hoping for a better future.
“We get married, we fall in love, we fall out of love for many reasons, what are we going to do? Just pretend it doesn’t exist? We honor every part of the journey,” he added.