Tia Mowry found a good use for her wedding ring after the divorce, so the marriage doesn't feel like 'a waste'

• Tia Mowry says she decided to repurpose her wedding ring into jewelry for her children post-divorce.
• "It just makes me feel like my marriage wasn't a waste," Mowry, 46, said.

Tia Mowry, 46, has found a good use for her wedding ring after her divorce.

During an episode of her show "Tia Mowry: My Next Act," which aired Friday on We TV, the actor said she decided to turn her wedding ring into jewelry for her kids.

"I haven't worn it for almost two years now, and it just doesn't feel right to sell it," Mowry said. "But what I am wanting to do is change my wedding band into something for my kids. Pass it down, you know, to my kids, because they have been my biggest gift."

Mowry and Cory Hardrict finalized their divorce in April 2023, after 14 years of marriage. The exes first met on a movie set in 1999 and tied the knot in 2008. They have two children together: son Cree, 13, and daughter Cairo, 6.

In the episode, Mowry explained that she didn't need more time to think about her decision, "because if it's made into something else, then it's put to good use."

"It's sad, you know what I mean, because this is a symbol of a marriage, and it's no longer," she said.

The "Sister Sister" star added that she had been thinking about her ex-husband when making her decision since he gave her the ring.

"But I am learning that, at the end of the day, I need to make this decision for me. And I think because it's going to the kids, he'll be OK," she said.

Later in the episode, Mowry can be seen heading to a jeweler's to have her ring turned into a necklace for her son and a bracelet for her daughter.

"I just think it's so beautiful to transform something that was given out of love and to give it to your children. It just makes me feel like my marriage wasn't a waste," Mowry said.

Diamonds became the gem of choice for engagement and wedding rings thanks to a successful 1947 ad campaign by De Beers, one of the biggest diamond companies in the world.

However, the mined diamond industry has been affected by the rise in lab-grown diamonds: In 2023, lab-grown diamonds represented 17% of the global diamond market, with sales increasing by 38% from 2021 to 2022.

According to the Zimnisky Global Rough Diamond Index, which tracks the price change of natural rough diamonds, prices have fallen about 10.7% year-to-date.

A representative for Mowry did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular hours.