Getting Divorced? Get a New Ring

    Harold Thompson had a rough year in 2001. His second wife left, he got laid off from his job inspecting fiber-optic cables for Corning, and he was drowning in bills. While he waited for a better opportunity, he took a job at WalMart to keep the wolf from the door.
 
When former co-worker Mary Burden came in to do some shopping, she ran into Thompson. Burden had also been laid off from Corning and as they commiserated about their layoffs and his divorce, Burden told Thompson about an idea she'd had but never followed up on. "They have rings to mark the engagement and rings to mark the marriage, but none for the divorce. Why not?" she asked.
 
Married the first time for seven years and the second time for 10 years, Thompson knew firsthand the pain of a break up and the relief that follows when a really bad relationship is finally over. So, he immediately got how affirming it might be to wear something that symbolizes surviving the separation and divorce wars. Thompson had tinkered around with jewelry for years and he'd taken some art and drafting courses. So, a design instantly came to mind that would highlight the signature events of a failed relationship. That night, he went home and came up with the first draft of the "Divorced Ring."

That early design had three bands -- one to symbolize the year the couple met, one for the year they married, and one for the year they separated. Unlike the traditional wedding band that is a never ending circle symbolizing unending love, the Divorced Ring had a break in the middle. In that first design, the ex spouse's birthstone was on one side of the divide and your birthstone was on the other. "Not many people liked that idea. So, I decided to go with no stones at all," Thompson said.
 
A friend at Corning whose family owned a jewelry business in Philadelphia, called his brother about the idea. When the brother said he was excited about design, Thompson flew to Philly and delivered the blueprints. Soon, he and Burden had the prototype ring.

For the first few years, D Jewelry Company was a hobby. After all, who'd ever heard of a divorce ring? With a shoestring budget for promotion, Thompson and Burden depended on their Web site www.divorcedjewelryco.com and word of mouth to market the rings. Word did get out, especially in online chatrooms where the newly divorced talked about how good the ring made them feel.
 
With the divorce rate at 41 percent and the U. S. Surgeon General, reporting that about 30 to 40 percent of those undergoing divorce experience a significant increase in symptoms of depression and anxiety, the newly divorced are a significant marketing niche for a product that symbolizes a new beginning.