ring resizing (please help answer my questions)

[micks]

Hi, I''m designing a custom engagement ring for my girlfriend. By that I means I''m drawing it out myself and have found a local artisan to create it in white gold for me. I''ve come to realize that my design is too intricate and does not lend itself well to resizing.

This has led me to a few questions I was hoping the members of this forum might help me with.

1) Do you wear your engagement ring all the time, or just your wedding band?
2) How often do you resize your ring? (I understand pregnancy, time, and other factors will change sizes)
3) Do you feel a ring that is designed to be slightly bigger is unacceptable and, for an engagement ring, a perfect fit should be something to strive for?
4) My girlfriend''s ring size is 5.5; does anybody have any idea of what kind of flexibility I should keep in mind (will it possibly go to 6? 6.5? 7?). I know everybody is different, but I was hoping for a ballpark figure.

Thank you, and if you think my questions are going in the wrong direction, please let me know, too! I''m trying to create for her the perfect one-of-a-kind ring to show her that she is one-of-a-kind to me.

 

[D&T]

if her size is 5.5, then I would recommend getting it to that right size the first time, as you don't know what the future will hold, she could go smaller or larger or not at all. Can you create this design so that it is 3/4 instead of an eternity style? not sure if you understand that, if its only 3/4 of the way, then you could possibly resize it just a tad without losing your design later.

 

[packrat]

Ditto D&T!

When I was pg, my fingers got a little bigger, so if I couldn''t cram my wedding set on my left ring finger, I switched a set from my right ring finger to wear instead-otherwise my finger felt weird. Sometimes if it''s super hot and humid out, my fingers swell like sausages..so I run them under cold water until I can get the rings on or off.

 

[musey]

Date: 8/31/2009 5:45:08 PM
Author:micks
1) Do you wear your engagement ring all the time, or just your wedding band?

I wear my wedding band all the time, and usually don''t think to put my engagement ring on until I''m leaving the house. I do wear both most days.

2) How often do you resize your ring? (I understand pregnancy, time, and other factors will change sizes)

I never have, but I''ve only had it for 2.5 years (wow, can''t believe it''s been that long!). My mother had her soldered set sized up from a 7 to an 8.5 after kids. I''m hoping my fingers won''t follow her lead... she also gardens and works with power tools almost every day, so I choose to think that''s had more of an impact than pregnancies

3) Do you feel a ring that is designed to be slightly bigger is unacceptable and, for an engagement ring, a perfect fit should be something to strive for?

Well, do you want it to fly off when she moves her hand?

Everyone''s different, some people even prefer their rings to be loose fitting. At least for me, even a ''perfect fit'' is not always a ''perfect fit.'' When my hands are wet and/or cold, it feels as though it might fly off if I gesture to wildly. When I''m REALLY hot, it feels a bit uncomfortable.

Ideally, the ring should be loose enough that it feels comfortable, but not so loose that could fall off her finger under normal circumstances.

4) My girlfriend''s ring size is 5.5; does anybody have any idea of what kind of flexibility I should keep in mind (will it possibly go to 6? 6.5? 7?). I know everybody is different, but I was hoping for a ballpark figure.

Yep, everyone''s different. No such thing as a ballpark figure. I suppose it would be surprising if her size went up more than 1-1.5, but surely not unheard of.

Thank you, and if you think my questions are going in the wrong direction, please let me know, too! I''m trying to create for her the perfect one-of-a-kind ring to show her that she is one-of-a-kind to me.

I''m sure your jeweler can help guide you in the right direction here... trust his/her judgment if you think they''re trustworthy.

 

[DiamanteBlu]

One thing you want to consider is the shape of her finger. What part of it is a 5.5?

Some people''s fingers are conical [get bigger in circumference all the way down], some are pretty uniform, and some look like bamboo [bigger knuckle on a skinny finger - like mine!].

If the knuckle is slightly larger than the finger you have more flexibility. The ring is less likely to fall off if it is a tad looser because it is blocked by the knuckle. [Of course if it is too loose it will tend to want to be upsidedown and you will have to make allowances for that.]

If the finger is conical in shape you have a bigger sizing issue because if it is too loose it will be easier to lose.

 

[Pearce Marvyn]

Yes you can go back and forth as much as you want! but if you want they have this clip that you put on the back of the ring then you dont have to take it in to a jeweler (sorry i dont know what it is called)

pearl jewelry

 

[MustangGal]

I got engaged 10 years ago (I can''t believe it''s been that long!), and had a baby earlier this year. My ring size, 5.5, has never changed. But, other than the pregnancy, neither has my weight.

I would get the 5.5.

 

[litebrite]

I got my e-ring 2 years ago and haven''t resized yet (but I also haven''t had kids yet.) However, I have gained weight and I notice that my ring is a tad tighter, but not enough to resize (I also don;t wear it all the time.) If you change your pattern so it only goes 3/4ths of the way around like D&T suggested, you should be fine resizing in the future. So size it to where she is now.

 

[LGK]

Just get it the size she is for now- 5.5. Yeah, if she gains significant weight she *may* have her finger change in size, but then again, maybe not, or not much. Or she might be one of those lucky/hardworking women who never gains much weight at all. There''s no way to predict anything, so just go for what fits her now and call it good; if you have to get it sized up later, or redone radically, or reset, burn that bridge when you come to it.

Personally I like my rings a little loose. I hate tight rings, and the sausage finger look you get from them, so I tend to wear them about a half size large. You can add rings (like stacking eternity bands) and it''ll make the whole lot fit tighter. If it''s cold out, I have to wear a band w/ my e-ring to keep it on.

My original wedding set was a size 2.5, which was a perfect fit when I was 24 and a size 4. Then I had thyroid cancer, gained weight, and now at 32 I wear a size 14 or 16 and my ring size is a 5.5ish; obviously, I tend to gain weight all over including my fingers. Other women just don''t, it all goes to their butt or something and their fingers stay about the same. My original wedding set wasn''t gonna be resizable to that much bigger- it was an antique. Turned out it all the stones were about to fall out anyway, and to get them all repointed would have cost more than the ring was worth so I just ended up getting a new ring. So it goes, sometimes. (And then losing the original one, because I''m very good at losing things

)

Lucky girl to have you create something just for her! Very cool.

 

[marcy]

I would get it the size she wears now. It''s hard to predict how her finger size will change over the years.