For the poet Robert Herrick, the love shown by the wedding ring was “as endless … and pure as gold for ever”. But what happens when love does end? For the jewellers of the early 20th century, the answer was found in the “divorce ring”.
The dashing Chicago divorcée Mrs Marina Parke claimed to have invented this new type of ring when she divorced her husband, Fred, the secretary of the Board of Supervising Traction Engineers, in 1911. According to the Chicago newspapers, she had her wedding ring sized down to wear on the little finger of her right hand, which had the advantage of “being most economical”. It was a neat solution to the problem of a now superfluous and potentially depressing wedding band. It also saved her from embarrassment at dinner parties as your “new acquaintances no longer enquire about your husband, and old friends who have not yet heard of the divorce, perceiving the ring, are saved from embarrassing themselves and you by asking awkward questions”.
Mrs Parke wasn’t the only woman to see the advantage of a divorce ring. In 1922 a British woman had her wedding ring cut through with a zigzag to symbolise the broken union. She explained that at first she was inclined to throw the ring away, but kept it out of respect for her daughter. For women in the 1920s, divorce, though posing social difficulties and attracting awkward questions, was still easier than unmarried motherhood.
Although adapting the old wedding ring was the simplest option, jewellers were also ready with innovative designs full of symbolism for their new customers. According to newspaper reports, American jewellers offered a ring for the little finger with the device of a broken Cupid’s bow or arrow and, with great foresight, “stones may be inset — one for each time the wearer has been divorced”. For a more subtle option, you could choose a circlet of black pearls set in platinum to wear above the gold wedding band or have a line of black enamel set into your old ring. New black wedding rings were worn “in memory of the dear divorced”, a nod to the mourning rings of the previous century. Customers were advised that black onyx was the stone that “signifies the broken bond and freedom”. As well as marking the marriage’s end, the divorce ring signalled that its wearer was available for a new try at matrimony.
In 1927 some Paris jewellers offered a symbolic option. Their ring was designed with “two microscopic hands set in little diamonds, turned away from each other to signify the rupture, with a large stone between the two”, like a divorce version of the traditional Claddagh ring. It sent an elegant and unmistakable message to curious beholders.
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Not every divorce ring had to be funereal. The divorce ring of the 1930s was quite glamorous, shaped as a circle of diamonds or pearls, interrupted by a coloured gemstone. The breaking of the circle symbolised the severed marriage union. An onyx in the centre suggested half-mourning, a ruby, passion (perhaps for the new beloved?), but the emerald, associated with jealousy, was considered tactless.
For American customers, the “Reno ring” was on the market in 1930. Reno, Nevada, was the home of the speedy divorce and the perfect place to sell divorce rings. This version was made of black onyx and, inside the band, where the initials of the loving couple might have been expected, were “the four significant letters: ‘FREE’ ”.
The Berks and Oxon Advertiser of 1925 was unconvinced by the divorce ring, judging that “they advertise a woman’s history too much. The idea is American.” It certainly appealed to one American woman. Alice White, star of Hollywood silent films, divorced her husband, Sy Bartlett, in 1938, discouraged by his habit of staying out for nights on end. When asked to account for himself, he offered to “make you a report in a couple of weeks”. She ended the marriage with £13 a week alimony and a smart white gold divorce ring to wear on the little finger of her left hand. The motto “Liberty and Freedom” was engraved inside, leaving no doubts about her feelings about their parting. When she was interviewed in 1958, she explained that, “I wasn’t a real madcap. I just married the wrong guys — three of ’em.”
Divorce no longer carries a social stigma and a divorce ring isn’t necessary to stave off embarrassing questions at dinner parties. However, there is still a place for new jewellery in the life of the modern divorcing couple. Commissioning an exciting jewel or remaking your marriage or engagement band into something fresh can be a way to mark the end of one chapter and the move into a new one.
If you have wedding jewellery that needs a new life, the National Association of Jewellers has a “find a jeweller” service for adjustments.
