Accounts receivable - Portfolio of Accounts Receivable (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Nov. 03, 2018	Feb. 03, 2018	Oct. 28, 2017
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Accounts receivable, net	$ 9.3	$ 692.5	$ 640.1
Consumer Portfolio Segment
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Accounts receivable, net	0.0	682.9	630.0
Other Accounts Receivable
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Accounts receivable, net	9.3	9.6	10.1
Sterling Jewelers \| Consumer Portfolio Segment
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Accounts receivable, net	0.0	649.4	597.7
Zale Jewelry \| Consumer Portfolio Segment
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items]
Accounts receivable, net	$ 0.0	$ 33.5	$ 32.3

Amount due from customers or clients, within one year of the balance sheet date (or the normal operating cycle, whichever is longer), for goods or services (including trade receivables) that have been delivered or sold in the normal course of business, reduced to the estimated net realizable fair value by an allowance established by the entity of the amount it deems uncertain of collection.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 8
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109196051&loc=SL49130549-203045

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(3))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Name:	us-gaap_AccountsReceivableNetCurrent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant