Why Some Women—Like Amal Clooney—Stop Wearing Their Engagement Rings

Amal Clooney’s engagement ring wearing Amal Clooney. Photo: Getty

The Internet loves getting worked up about things, and this week, it’s all about Amal Clooney and her engagement ring—or lack there of.

Clooney, who’d been sporting the estimated $750,000 platinum-set, 7-carat, emerald-cut diamond given to her in spring 2014 by now-husband George, has recently chosen to leave it at home. According to The Mirror, the London-based human rights lawyer found the sparkler to be too “blingy” for the courtroom.

“People constantly stop [Clooney] and admire it for a closer look,” said a source. “It is a massive rock and there is no hiding it. She absolutely loves the ring and won’t be getting rid of it but she just wants something simpler for her big cases.”

So, why are people bugging? There are a few reasons: One, the price of the ring. George spent all that money on it, so his wife not wearing it is insulting. Then there’s the idea that all women live their lives dreaming of getting a giant engagement ring—so to not wear it is a slap to the stereotype’s theoretical face. And, of course, outsiders assume that the ring’s absence signifies trouble in paradise for the Clooneys. Tabloid history has taught us time and time again that the end of a ring means the start of a divorce.

The thing is, Clooney isn’t alone in wanting to simplify her finger party post-nup. I spoke with three marrieds who all admitted that they’ve dabbled in ringlessness after their engagements, choosing, instead, to wear only their wedding bands.

Mr. and Mrs. Clooney in October. Photo: Getty

The first woman with whom I spoke—who’s been married a year this month—admitted to hardly ever wearing the diamond ring her now husband proposed to her with a year and a half before their wedding. Her reasoning lies in her gym habits. “I work out a lot and am terrified of damaging it,” she told me, particularly because many classes she takes involve “weights or kettle bells.” But before getting married, she never took it off, wearing it “in the shower and everything.” Though she’s never explicitly spoken to her husband about her choice not to wear it, she says he “gets sad. He just kind of notices and pouts.”

A second, married 15 months, chose to take a break from her bling for a year after her wedding because she was simply ready for a change of jewelry. “Right after I got married, I just felt like [I needed a] change and didn’t want to wear the engagement ring, just the band.” Sometimes, she felt the ring just didn’t suit the minimalist sartorial aesthetic she was going for. But after wearing it for an important interview this summer, she says she fell in love with the ring all over again. “Since then, I’ve been wearing it every day.”

Woman no. 3, a former nurse who’s been married for 18 years, says that, like Mrs. Clooney, she stopped wearing her engagement ring because of work. “Wearing a diamond sticking off your hand as a nurse is not practical, and hospitals frowned on it because they can harbor germs,” she explains. Later, she kept it off after her rock accidentally scratched her young child—and, again, it’s “annoying” at the gym. Now, she wears her ring “about 50% of the time,” mostly when she’s dressed to go out—and even when she doesn’t, her husband’s never said a word. “He’s just happy I haven’t lost it!” she says.

Clooney’s husband is reportedly in the same understanding boat (well… make that a yacht). Said The Mirror’s source, “[Amal’s] been to visit Cartier and has requested a platinum band [to replace the engagement ring]. George understands and is completely supportive.” So, nothing to be concerned about thus far.

Of course, not every woman likes leaving her ring on the nightstand while she goes about her activities. The first person I reached out to in regards to this story was my own mother, who married my dad 30 years ago next April. “Do you wear your engagement ring every day?” I texted her.

“Ya,” she replied. “I LOVE diamonds!!!”