Fashion stylist, designer and reality television Rachel Zoe split with her husband Rodger Berman in July of 2025 after 27 years of marriage. To make the occasion of her divorce and commemorate her next life chapter, Zoe treated herself to a sparkling new bauble: a multi-carat, mega-watt oval diamond solitaire divorce ring flanked by two smaller stones, which she had custom designed by jewellery brand Ring Concierge.
“It’s like a freedom ring,” Zoe shared during an appearance on Today with Jenna & Sheinelle. “I just think … why do women have to wait their whole lives to get a ring because they’re engaged? Why can’t they just have a ring that’s either, ‘OK, I’m divorced. I’m free. I’m widowed. I’m single.’”
This power-move is a narrative we’ve seen happening in pop culture for a few years thanks to Zoe’s famous divorce ring contemporaries, Brooks Nader and Emily Ratajkowski, who both fashioned their old engagement rings into something new and beautiful. Melissa Gobeil and Susan Shaw, the co-founders of Canadian fine jewelry brand ATTIC, say that divorce rings—redesigning old ones or creating new designs—have become an increasingly important part of their business. And it’s a market shift they are massive supporters of.
“We see divorce rings as an empowering way for women to create something new representing who they are now,” Gobeil says. “Jewelry holds so much meaning, so being able to take a piece from your past and intentionally transform it into something aligned with your present can be incredibly affirming. It’s much less about the divorce itself, and more about agency and choosing what you carry forward.”
When it comes to the process of a redesign at ATTIC, Gobeil says once an original engagement ring has been broken down (gemstones are removed, gold is recycled), they work with a client to create a piece that perfectly encapsulates who they are in this new life era.
“Most times the design feels completely different from what it was before,” Gobeil shares. “Our advice is to just go for it with the look of the ring; choose a style you’ve always wanted. Be bold and create a piece that feels unmistakably yours. This moment is a chance to tap into your gut, imagine what excites you, and create something that expresses who you are.”
Hayley Woodbury is the co-owner of Anne Sportun, also a Canadian-based fine jewelry brand, and a custom design specialist. What she loves most about the process of crafting a new ring with an engaging narrative for a client is that it’s a powerful way to mark a huge life shift and include a precious part of their past.
“Jewelry is a powerful way to mark transitions in life,” Woodbury explains. “I think an engagement ring transformation allows people to wear a piece they love and prevent it from being stored away in a box, unworen and unseen. Each piece you wear carries a story and jewelry is meant to be wore and celebrated.”
In her business, Woodbury has an equal mix of clients looking for a divorce ring that’s a redesign and brand-new bauble. “For some, using the original engagement diamond feels too sentimental, or perhaps the wearer never loved the ring to begin with,” she says. “This is when a client chooses to purchase something new and sell their old piece to help fund it. In other situations, there’s still emotional attachment, and the redesign can be as simple as resizing the ring to a different finger or resetting it into another ring style or even a pendant.”
She recently worked with a client who had an Anne Sportun engagement ring from a previous marriage, and though she still loved it, she no longer felt comfortable wearing it because of the memories attached to it. After Woodbury spent some time with her client to figure out what would be a perfect match for her now, they landed on the idea of creating more casual design that didn’t feature a centre diamond as the focal point.
“We removed the stone from her solitaire and reset it into a wide, bombé-style band,” Woodbury describes. “We reused the original plain shank from her engagement ring, resizing it to fit into a right-hand ring stack she already wore. In the end, she had two new rings in a completely different style. It was truly a lovely moment for me to help bring her joy and celebrate her new life chapter.”
Gobeil had a similar experience with a client, transforming a divorce diamond into a statement, signet-style pinky ring. The wearer reframed the diamond as hers, not ‘theirs.’ The design process was not only incredibly cathartic for the client, but also a fun experience.
“Designing something beautiful and intentional can bring a sense of lightness back to a heavy experience,” she says. “We’re seeing a broader cultural shift toward reclaiming jewelry. It’s less about collecting pieces gifted from a partner or marking a relationship, but more about women choosing jewelry for themselves to reflect identity, growth and personal milestones. Divorce rings fit very naturally into that shift.” —Alison McGill
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