Basics of ring sizing, help a newb please

[captainobvious]

Stumbled across this site a few days ago, and I was surprised by how much great info there is here. What a great community you have here at this forum!



I have a couple of questions pertaining to ring sizing.

-Are their guidelines for how far a ring can be down-sized?

-Is it a cut and resolder process, and where on the ring are they usually seperated/rejoined?

I came across a very detailed/sculpted ring that was a size 9 1/2!! The jeweler stated that it can be resized, but resizing a detailed ring to a size 5.25/5.5 seems to me like it would cut out alot of the ring. I''m not really sure about how the whole resizing process works, but if someone could fill me in or point me to a good source of info I''d be grateful.

Thanks!

 

[DiamanteBlu]

It depends on the ring but, generally, +/- 2 sizes is the most you would want to go if the ring can be sized at all. And, yes, sawing and soldering is usually involved [sometimes the ring can be compressed or streched instead].

 

[oldminer]

Sizing rings is a very individual process. Usually it involves cutting and soldering near the base, the lowest portion, of the shank. On a wedding band where thickness is consistent and there is little or no design, a ring may be compressed or stretched some without cutting it.

I used to make a ring that actually had a bow knot design in the bottom of the ring. When ever this was made smaller, the design was lost. The ring you are concerned about may have a loss of some detailing with a major size change. Some rings could change from size 10 to size 5 with little problem while others resist a half size change. The metal can be hard and brittle, or it can readily be reshaped. It takes the usual "expert" to help you know if something can be done. It is a very individual project, per ring.

 

[captainobvious]

thanks for the detailed responses. It pretty much confirmed what I was thinking, so at least now I''ll be more educated through this process.