Still has a nice ring to it: Celebrities who repurposed their engagement rings after a breakup
After a couple decides to break up, there are still objects—like rings—that remind them of their past relationship. While some opt to forget about it completely, others choose to give their engagement rings new meaning as they move on from their ex.
Model-actress Emily Ratajkowski, for one, recently showed off her previous engagement ring that she turned into two “divorce rings.” The said bling now has pear-cut and princess-cut diamond stones on gold ring bands created by jewelry brand Alison Lou.
In her interview with Vogue, Emily shared that her repurposed engagement rings represent her “own personal revolution.”
"I don’t think a woman should be stripped of her diamonds just because she's losing a man," the Welcome Home star said.
According to Emily, her decision to have her rings repurposed came after she read an essay by her friend, Stephanie Danler, which gave her the idea that such could also signify the "many lives a woman has lived."
"It was a fun project to work on together amidst a hugely transitional period in my life," she said. "The ring became symbolic to me—some kind of token or evidence of my life becoming my own again.”
Apart from Emily, there are other celebrities who have altered or used their engagement rings for other purposes after closing a chapter in their love lives. Here are some of them.
Shanna Moakler
In 2022, former beauty queen Shanna Moakler decided to auction her engagement ring from ex-husband, Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, a few months after the latter tied the knot with his now-wife, Kourtney Kardashian.
The ring—a 4-carat, round-cut solitaire ring with a diamond-encrusted band reportedly worth $160,000 (nearly P9 million)—was sold for $96,500 (over P5 million) via re-sale company Worthy.
Shanna and Travis got married in 2004 in a Nightmare Before Christmas-themed wedding ceremony; They share two children, Alabama and Landon.
The two officially divorced in 2008.
"We don't know specifically what Shanna is planning to do with the money, but, trust that she will use the proceeds to turn the reminders of the past into new opportunities as many of our sellers do,” Worthy CEO Steven Schneider told People Magazine at the time.
Paris Hilton
Like Moakler, American socialite Paris Hilton also auctioned off her 24-carat yellow diamond engagement ring from her ex, Greek shipping heir and film producer Paris Latsis.
The two got engaged in May 2005, but called it off five months later because Hilton was “not ready for marriage."
According to a Daily Mail report, the ring was sold at a whopping price of $4.7 million (over P250,000 million). The proceeds were donated to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina at the time.
Elizabeth Taylor
Award-winning British-American actress Elizabeth Taylor was famous not only for her outstanding work in film and advocacy for AIDS, but also for her jewelry collection that symbolizes her previous marriages.
The late actress, who starred in the 1963 film Cleopatra, got married eight times.
Among her many pieces of jewelry, one that stands out is her 33.19-carat baguette-cut diamond from her then-husband, actor Richard Burton, birthing the famous Taylor-Burton diamond which was previously known as the Krupp Diamond. It reportedly cost $1 million (over P58 million) at the time.
After her second divorce with Burton, the veteran actress sold the famous stone in 1979 at a price reported between $3 million (P168 million) to $5 million (P279 million). She used the portion of the proceeds to build a hospital in Botswana, where their second wedding took place.
Upon her passing in 2011, the famous stone was auctioned by Christie’s at a price of over $8 million (P445 million).
Drake
American rapper Drake was never married, but he has a stunning necklace with 42 diamonds from her supposed engagement rings.
Dubbed "Previous Engagements," the necklace has 351.38 carats in diamonds, symbolizing the 42 engagement rings he bought when he thought of proposing to someone but didn’t. It was created by the rapper in collaboration with jewelry designer Alex Moss.
All the stunning stones were mounted in 18k white gold and were helmed for 14 months.