Ugly story short: I’m separated, will be divorced, going to counseling.
Do I hock my wedding ring?
And what do I do with all the wedding albums and me’n’him crap that accumulated over 22 years when I go pack up the rest of my crap?
I am sorry to hear your news. Sending out supporting thoughts.
Unless you need the money, keep the ring a while. Now it represents anger and sadness and ugliness. But maybe, just maybe, some day it will represent 22 years of your life. You can always sell it later if you want.
You could always have it enlarged to fit your middle finger.
That is hilarious, GHO57 and I’ll seriously consider it!
Thanks for the good thoughts, Khadaji.
It’s hard to imagine I’ll ever have fond thoughts of my trainwreck of a marriage but you’re right, there is always later.
When I was a teenager (early 80’s) the mom of one of my friends had a pendant made from her engagement ring. The diamond was trapped inside a cage-like structure made out of the gold from the band. And, as I was typing that it made me wonder just how she felt about the marriage; was that a metaphor?
That sounds apt and lovely, Maisoui but the center diamond is small so it’d fall out or be invisible behind a small gold mesh cage. 
I make jewelry and have a lot of divorced folks coming to me with their rings to be remade into other items; re-purpose the material into something you will like because you won’t get nearly what it is worth from simply hocking it.
On the photo albums and such, I would pack those away for another time. I have been divorced for over 20 years and realize now I have absolutely no photographs whatsoever of me when I was that young and thin. There will be a point where you won’t be quite so angry or disturbed about the divorce and might want to look upon some of the more pleasant memories. Just my humble opinion, but I wish I had some of mine to look back upon (actually, I lost mine in the Northridge earthquake, but was surprised that none of my family members seem to have any of me during that time of my life).
I held onto my wedding band for a few years. I thought of wearing it from time to time… but every time I looked at it there were feelings of anger and/or sadness. I didn’t want the constant reminder so back on the shelf it went.
Finally at some point I stopped feeling anger or sadness when I looked at it. But I also realized I didn’t have much use for it. I’m not a big jewelry guy, and it was very obviously a wedding band. So I took it in, heard a couple of offers for it, accepted an offer, and bought a few nice things for my kids and myself.
Keep it for now. Burn a picture or two if it makes you feel better. But I would keep the rest. You will eventually feel different about the divorce… maybe better or maybe worse… but you will feel different. And anything you sell, chuck, or destroy you can never get back.
I tossed my wedding rings from my starter marriage over Niagara Falls. The story is worth more than the small amount I could have made from hocking them.
A friend hocked hers and bought herself a piece of meaningful jewelry instead.
I sold my rings, but they weren’t worth much. As for the pictures, I gave them to my mom to put in a box in her basement. I thought maybe my kids would want to see them when they get older.
(BOLDING MINE!)
Excellent point, FDH!
Bartman, the symbolic burning sounds therapeutic and I’m going to do it! Only not pictures where I’m young and skinny.
He bought me so much jewelry that I don’t know I’d want to get another piece but I could get a dog if and when I get my own place.
I stuck mine into a jewelry box and forgot about it pretty much, put it into a garage sale a while back but didn’t get a good offer on it, then 20 years later it turns out my son and soon-to-be daughter-in-law kinda ran out of money for their wedding and couldn’t afford rings, so I donated mine! It’s a pretty ring, a smallish center diamond with two smaller diamonds and two sapphires on either side in yellow gold, and by great good luck it fit my DIL just fine and she loves it–so turns out it was a good thing I held onto it. You never get more than a few bucks for a wedding ring anyway, unless it has a really huge stone in it or is an heirloom, so repurposing for another wedding is a nice way to recycle the things.
If money isn’t tight, I suggest not only going with the re purposing suggestion-- but adding to it! Make something new with the ring, but maybe buy yourself a new stone to add to whatever you make- something that symbolizes you and this next stage in your life.
We don’t have kids, fortunately.
But, unfortunately, money is key.
I do love to make jewelry, however, so I might set the ring aside and re-evaluate later.
I swapped the wedding ring from my first marriage for credit (with a jeweler) toward the wedding ring for my second marriage.
Repurposing can have many meanings.
Both of our rings came from a pawn shop. When we got married Lady Chance and I had about $10 to our names and we decided that a pawn shop ring worked.
Honestly, if you want to scare a set of about-to-be-marrieds just take them to a pawn shop, ask about wedding rings, and have the clerk bring out display case after case of them and ask them to look around.
Makes you think about what you’re doing.
Ah, Stompin’ Tom.
Edited 'cause it turned out not to be helpful.
Pawn shop.
Then, walk away.
My husband threw his first wedding ring into a river, and I think he got some satisfaction out of it. It was certainly poetic.
I hadn’t been married before him, but I had some fine jewelry from a long-term relationship. I sold it all for lowball amounts on eBay. That felt evilly right.