Emily Ratajkowski debuts divorce rings, symbolising the beginning of the loud breakup era
Whatever your thoughts are on Emily Ratajkowski, you’ve got to give the woman credit: she’s a sustainable queen. Following her divorce from producer Sebastian Bear-McClard in 2022, the model decided not to chuck out her engagement ring, but rather repurpose it into two new ring styles which have been dubbed “the divorce rings.” As iconically explained by Ratajkowski in a recent interview with Vogue: “I don’t think a woman should be stripped of her diamonds just because she’s losing a man.”
Ratajkowski, who first debuted the rings on her Instagram, shared that the decision to curate the divorce jewellery came to her after reading her friend and American author Stephanie Danler’s essay The Unravelers in The Paris Review. In the story, Danler speaks about her grandmother’s snake ring, a ring that is made up of different stones from her various marriages. “I loved the idea of a ring unabashedly representing the many lives a woman has lived,” Ratajkowski noted.
The 32-year-old has never been shy about loudly expressing both love and loss. In February 2023, Ratajkowski hard launched her relationship with comedian and actor Eric Andre with a very tasteful and artistic joint nude Instagram post. Moreover, the model has always been incredibly open about mini flings and people that she’s dated—I still have the Harry Styles make-out session stuck in a loop in my head.
@emrata personally i find it chic to be divorced by the age of 30
♬ original sound - Emrata
The divorce rings, while unique, are reflective of how women, and in particular female celebrities, are embracing breakups and personal transformations in ways we haven’t really seen before. And, even better, they’re being celebrated for it.
Indeed, insights from Bumble solidify the fact that we might indeed be in a ‘loud breakup’ era. In the UK, more than 1 in 3 (39 per cent) people on Bumble surveyed have ended a marriage or serious relationship recently and a third (36 per cent) are now using dating apps for the first time.
Interestingly, Bumble also found that a majority of people are also being consciously single, with 54 per cent of users saying they’re taking a more mindful and intentional approach to how, who, and when they date.
Bumble Sex and Relationship Expert, Dr Caroline West shared: “Whether through divorce rings, breakup parties or burning wedding dresses, we’re seeing singles caring much less about what people outside of their relationship have to say about it. Helping shatter the stigma around ‘failed’ relationships, being loud and proud about breakups or divorce allows single people to re-approach dating on their terms.”
Alison Chemla, the jeweller who helped to bring Ratajkowski’s vision to life, told Vogue: “The idea of divorce is a separation, so it was always going to be splitting the ring into two separate but complementary rings.”
And for Ratajkowski, it seems as though both the creation and public debut of the rings brought her a great sense of power and release: “It was a fun project to work on together amidst a hugely transitional period in my life. The ring became symbolic to me—some kind of token or evidence of my life becoming my own again,” the model explained.
Ratajkowski concluded: “It’s been a crazy couple of years, and finally I feel a sense of peace within myself and about the life and future I have and will continue to build with my son. Somehow, these rings feel like a reminder that I can make myself happy in ways I never imagined.”
