Ring Sizing and Weight

[Eva14]

Approximately how many pounds (one way or the other) can a person lose or gain and still have a ring that fits?

For my entire life, I'd always been naturally thin. But in the past year or so I went through a rather serious illness and ended up gaining some weight. I now see that my old rings no longer fit. It's really no big deal, because my current rings were not expensive.

I want to get a RHR. I definitely won't have it sized until I'm back to my original weight, which hopefully won't be too hard to get to. (The lure of a fancy diamond ring may help my motivation). That said, there's no guarantee that my health issues are behind me.

My condition is SEVERE migraines, and they are very chronic. In fact, my migraines have been constant for the past year and a half. I do admit that I was consoling myself with cookies to try to combat the horrid pain I was feeling. It was very hard to cook balanced meals in my condition. Also, it can be almost impossible to exercise with severe migraine due to the horrible pain.

However, I am now on a pain management program that decreases a lot of my pain, so I'm going to try to exercise more and eat fewer deserts.

I just talked with a girlfriend who has had weight issues, and she confirmed that "rings aren't very forgiving". She recently lost 30 pounds and now her old rings don't fit.

Does anyone here have experience with this problem? Or even if you personally haven't had weight issues, I'm sure you probably know someone who has.

I just wondered how forgiving rings are. If I get back to my size 6 finger and have my ring sized 6, will it accomodate a weight gain of 10 pounds? 15 pounds? 20 pounds? What's the limit---30 pounds? Jewelers must know this info and it must be on the Internet somewhere.

I definitely won't have my ring sized too tightly, just to allow for a few pounds here and there. Of course, I don't want it to be so loose that it falls off my finger! One last question: How much does it cost to have a ring re-sized, say at Tiffany's? Or even at a regular jewelry store?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Eva

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Eva, I don't think there is any rule of thumb on how much finger size will change with weight gain or loss, but I would be certain to only buy rings that can be sized easily, as in I wouldn't buy one with delicate pave almost all the way around the shank. The good thing about losing weight is that you can always just have sizing beads put in, and then if you gain weight, you can just have those removed and not disturb the setting itself.

How much it costs will depend on where you live and who does it. I can have a ring sized for $20 locally. It seems like I have heard here that Tiffany's charges more than $100, but that is because they send everything to NY to be done and do not do it locally so shipping is a factor in that cost. But if a ring is bought from Tiffany's, that is the only place I would ever have it sized.

I am very sorry about your migraines and hope you get some relief!

 

[denverappraiser]

With a lot of people, especially very slender and/or older people, ring size is driven by the size of their knuckle, not the meaty part of the finger. Knuckles change with the time of the month, the temperature, arthritis related topics and other issues but weight doesn't do all that much. For others it's the thick part at the base of your finger and a 10 pound change can actually move it quite a bit (half a size is a lot). It's different for every person. There really is no rule here but a quarter size range throughout the day or throughout the month isn't unusual.

I don't think Tiffany will work on things they didn't make but usually sizing isn't all that difficult for a reasonably capable goldsmith. Sizing down is cheaper than up and prices vary from market to market and store to store but the range will be between, say, $25 - $100 depending on the details. At most stores estimates are free. Ask 'em.

 

[diamondringlover]

Not sure about the weight thing, but I recently had a 14K ring sized up 2.5 sizes and it cost me about $100 and I am in the US in Ohio.

 

[Christina...]

Eva, I don't have much knowledge about the ring sizing issue, but I do have lots and lots of experience with migraines. I had my first one when I was in second grade and suffered with one a week for many many years. I just want to reach out and give you a cyber hug! I think it's a condition that many don't understand who have never experienced them. In my case it was not only the pain but the frequency that was so debilitating. Migraines truly interfere with lives as much as any other serious illness, they are not simply 'a very bad headache' which so many thought when I was much younger. The good news in my story is that when I became pregnant with my son, my migraines disappeared for the most part. My OB was very concerned that I would suffer with even more episodes as many do with pregnancy, but I was very fortunate. I can count on both hands the number of migraines I've suffered from in the past twelve years.

I know that people find relief in deeply personal and individual ways, for me it was a dark silent room with a candle and eucalyptus or mint aroma therapy, and a healthy dose of imitrex. I hope that your pain management therapy is a success for you and that you find your own relief from the brutal condition. *hugs*

As far as rings, I've always purchased mine about 1/4-1/2 large to compensate for swollen fingers. Sizing beads are a great option for rings that are too large, so you if you sized your rings to fit now, you could add beads after the weight loss. DS made an excellent point about rings with pave in the band, and eternity rings, they are much more difficult to size later.

Good Luck Eva!

 

[motownmama]

I lost 16 lbs and my ring size changed from a 5 to a 4.25-4.5

 

[distracts]

Part of it depends on your finger shape. My finger has big joints, and so the joints are what determines my ring size. I was the same ring size at 95 lbs as I am at 120 lbs. I could probably gain another 10-20 lbs and be the same ring size. But if you have fingers that are wider at the base than at the joint, your finger size could be more easily disrupted by weight changes.

 

[Lotus99]

It's definitely going to depend on the shape of your fingers and on which parts of the body you tend to gain or lose weight.

I agree you should get rings that fit you now and add sizing beads or get them resized when you lose weight. It's definitely a good incentive.

I hope you find some relief from your migraines. I've suffered from them for years. I did eventually discover that I have a food sensitivity that triggers them. If your doctor hasn't suggested it already, it might be worth keeping a food diary or doing an elimination diet to see if it's a factor. I still get migraines even when I avoid the trigger foods, but they're a lot less frequent, thankfully.