JCPenney: Trade Your Ex’s Jewelry for a New Diamond Necklace

0shares

For Valentine’s Day 2026, JCPenney is flipping the script on romance with a campaign that’s equal parts bold, funny, and oddly therapeutic. Called “The Ex-Change,” the in-store activation invites customers to bring in a piece of jewelry gifted by an ex and swap it—no questions asked—for a brand-new diamond necklace.

On February 14, from 1–3 PM, select JCPenney stores across the U.S. will host a two-hour exchange window. The rules are refreshingly simple: show up with a piece from your past, leave with something new. No appraisal. No receipt. No awkward backstory.

That’s the point. Value isn’t measured here, emotion is.

Whether it’s a once-meaningful necklace or a ring you never quite knew what to do with, the act of exchanging it is the real payoff.

In return, participants receive a ½-carat lab-grown diamond necklace, set in 14k yellow gold-plated sterling silver. It’s positioned as a fresh start, sparkly enough to feel like an upgrade, but grounded in modern values.

Quantities are limited: 50 exchanges per store, with up to 100 at the Garden City flagship in New York. One exchange per person, while supplies last.

Giving old jewelry a second life

Here’s the smart twist: JCPenney isn’t tossing the collected pieces. Every item is donated to Good360, which redistributes goods to communities in need. So that symbol of a relationship that ran its course? It gets a second life, this time, doing some good. It’s a sustainability-minded move that adds depth to what could’ve been a simple stunt.

With The Ex-Change, JCPenney isn’t just offering a necklace. It’s offering a cultural release valve. A way to acknowledge that Valentine’s Day isn’t only for perfect couples and red roses, it’s also for people who’ve moved on and are ready to laugh about it.

A playful, pop, slightly cathartic idea that turns emotional baggage into a moment of lightness. And honestly? That might be the most modern Valentine’s gesture of all.