Engaged! With a unique smartphone ring that reflects love story

A MELKSHAM couple have got engaged using a ring made from the smartphones that brought them together, in a world-first proposal.

The ring has been specially made from the couple’s recycled iPhone 5s smartphones. It is made from the handset speakers and microphones that James Lawrence and Hayley Orchard used for whispering sweet nothings to each other, the cameras they used for selfies and video chat when living apart, and a gold band created using the very circuit boards that kept those phones alive.

The ring was created by O2 Recycle to celebrate its 10th anniversary – in partnership with bespoke sustainable jeweller, Lylie’s.

Newly-engaged James, said, “I met my fiancée Hayley on Tinder and quickly realised she was the one for me. The foundations of our relationship were built by spending hours sharing messages every day and having long telephone conversations before bed every night. 

“Those foundations turned into a house that we now share with our 10-month-old daughter and I wanted to celebrate the phones that brought me together with the love of my life. 

“Hayley thought the ring looked beautiful and jumped at the chance to show all of her friends, she couldn’t be happier with the sentiment.”

Nicola Green, director of corporate affairs at O2 said, “We hope the story of James and Hayley will inspire even more people to see that recycling can mean a new life for your old mobile, once you’re finished with it.

“Since 2009, O2 Recycle has saved 450 tonnes of waste from landfill – that’s the equivalent of 35 London buses’ worth of phones being recycled, and over £225million going back to environmentally conscious customers.”

With research by O2 Recycle, surveying 2,022 millennials from across the UK, discovering as many as two out of five (42%) believe it would be impossible to find and maintain a relationship without their smartphone in the 21st century, it is becoming increasingly likely millennials will depend on their mobiles to find love.

Almost three quarters (73%) of millennials now actively use mobile dating apps to find a partner, meaning more now meet their soul mate via their smartphone (22%) than any traditional method. Indeed, despite preconceptions, almost twice as many (30%) are looking for someone to marry on mobile dating apps than for casual sex (16%).

As a result of this change, a fifth (19%) of millennials using mobile dating apps have gone on to get engaged to someone they matched with, while a third (31%) first raised the idea of a proposal via their phone rather than face-to-face for fear of awkward conversations in person.

Once in a relationship, mobile phones remain essential, with a quarter (27%) of millennials confessing they speak to their partner more often via the phone than they do face-to-face. This is particularly true during the early stages of a relationship when they’re getting to know each other, as the average millennial spends over three hours (183 minutes) per day communicating with their partner via call, text and social media during the first three months.

To celebrate its milestone anniversary, O2 Recycle commissioned the first ever engagement ring to be made entirely from smartphones, following findings that half (50%) of environmentally conscious millennials would happily wear an engagement ring made from recycled materials, with sentimentality (59%) voted three times more important than cost (22%).

O2 Recycle offers cash payments for phones, tablets and wearables. Celebrating its tenth anniversary this month, the scheme is available to everyone, O2 customers and non-customers alike, and offers a price-match guarantee within seven days of placing your order.