How Does A Jeweler Size A Ring?

Rings often hold a lot of sentimental value to the owner. Whether it be an engagement ring, a ring that has been passed down in the family, or even just a fashionable accessory, rings have long been a staple in every woman's jewelry collection.

Because rings hold so much value, it's important that you find a highly skilled professional goldsmith (aka bench jewelers) to do any work on your ring. And when it comes time to resize one of your rings, there is a process that all bench jewelers go through to make sure it'll fit perfectly the next time you go to try it on.

So what actually happens behind the scenes? How does a bench jeweler work with a ring to get it to be a completely new size? We'll walk you through the steps that jewelers take to size your ring.

Before Bringing The Ring To A Jeweler

Sizing a ring is not uncommon. Most rings you see in a store are a size 6 or 6 1/2. Not all fingers sizes fall within that range. As a result, to insure a perfect fit on your finger, the ring will need to be made larger or smaller.

If you are sizing a ring with a solitaire stone, sizing the ring is more flexible. It is very important to understand that if there are side stones on your ring, it really shouldn’t be sized a large amount (generally no more than one size up or down). Otherwise, the security of the diamonds and integrity of the ring’s design may be compromised. We recommend if your ring has side diamonds and you need to size it greater than one finger size that you consider ordering the correct size instead.

Inspecting & Cleaning The Ring

The first thing the goldsmith does is examine the ring to identify the metal and carefully check the integrity of the design, the stones, and how the stones are set.

Your ring will most likely be cleaned before any work is done. Cleaning will allow for a better inspection while working with your ring, allowing for the high level of precision necessary.

Things Get Heated

Next, your ring is cut at the very bottom of the ring. The ring metal will need to be heated because the metal is naturally malleable but needs to allow for more malleability to make the identified size adjustment. Heating the ring demands exact precision. The precious metal of your ring, platinum, gold or silver, determines the amount of heat necessary.

When The Magic Happens

To make the ring larger, additional metal is used and is referred to as "stock." This piece of metal is crafted to be an exact match in proportion to the precious metal as well as the thickness and height of your ring. The resized stock is moved into position and then soldered or welded to the original band of the ring.

An experienced jeweler will be able to accomplish this with an extremely small bead of solder that is almost invisible, and your ring will be polished and finished perfectly. This will be done so skillfully that only a highly trained eye with high power magnification will be able to discern if anything was actually done to your ring.

Sizing a ring down is similar. The proper length of metal is cut from the bottom of the shank and the two sides are joined together and soldered closed.

Finishing Touches

After the sizing, if the ring is platinum or yellow gold, the metal finish is brought to a high polish. If your ring is white gold, after being polished, it is rhodium plated to bring the finish to the high reflectance of when it was first purchased.

Do you need your ring sized? Book an appointment with us today or stop by any of our retail locations to have your ring sized by experienced bench jewelers.