When getting a ring sized down...

[vsc]

Is it customary for the jeweler to give you the scrap gold that was taken out?

When my engagement ring was sized down 1 size in the US and they didn't do it... which surprised my mom. At least in her experience of mom & pop jewelers in Europe, they will give you the scrap as part of sizing - it's standard procedure. This would be the same kind of jewelers where you would later bring those scraps & other broken gold to weigh against your next project.

I'm asking because I have one of my grandparents' wedding bands - it's a simple band but in gorgeous 18k rose gold and I'm itching to get it sized down so I can wear it. The sizing would be from a ~8.5 to a 4.5 so a lot of gold would be removed... Which makes me hesitate. Somehow it would feel more "right" if at least I was able to keep the removed section.

 

[Lottie]

I would just ask for it when you take the ring in - if for some reason they don't return gold when they resize you will have advance warning and can take your business elsewhere.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

When I had several rings sized down they did not give me the scraps. I honestly didn't even think about it but with gold prices today it would be worth asking for!

 

[AprilBaby]

+1

 

[february2003bride]

I have asked for it before, a few times in fact! It's usually just worth a few dollars but it does offset the cost of the sizing a little bit.

 

[ame]

I've never even heard of that...but thats a good idea I bet.

 

[that_someone_special]

No.. but they freaking should. Or take it off of the price to size the ring.

I wanted to size a very very thin shank up a half of a size and they wanted $50. Their reasoning is that they had to "add gold" Psh. It was the same price to take it down a half size too, but they don't give that gold back.

 

[centralsquare]

I haven't asked before, but I would now given metal prices. Especially if you are paying them to do it!

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Often, when sizing down a ring, the ring will be compressed with a special tool (Like this: http://www.riogrande.com/MemberArea/ProductPage.aspx?assetname=116081&page=GRID&free_text=ring+stretcher), which doesn't require cutting out material.

But let's look at the cases where the ring is cut. There are two problems with handing the gold back.

The first is the amount of gold. To resize a ring from a size 6 to a 5, there is a 2.4mm difference in circumference. Considering 18kt gold and a 2mm round shank (just to make my numbers easier), that bit of gold weighs around 0.1grams, which, at today's prices represents around $4 (which is why the price for a gold band is usually the same for a size range of, say, 5-9). If you consider that some of that gold becomes metal dust, it is even less.

Now, let's consider how a bench jeweler works. Jobs are done in batches - resizing ten rings, for example. All 10 rings are cut, then all are reshaped, then soldered, etc. To be able to return the gold, the person doing the resizing would have to put down the saw, hunt for a small bit of gold somewhere on the bench drawer, pick it up, put it in a baggie, staple the baggie to the work order and then pick the saw back up to move to the next ring. That is a lot of work and it throws the rhythm of the work off, slowing everything down.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

No.. but they freaking should. Or take it off of the price to size the ring.

I wanted to size a very very thin shank up a half of a size and they wanted $50. Their reasoning is that they had to "add gold" Psh. It was the same price to take it down a half size too, but they don't give that gold back.

Bean - I doubt that the $50 they asked was for the gold added, but rather for the labour of adding. Sizing up a ring is a pretty straight forward process of stretching the metal. If the shank was too thin to stretch then the process is much more labor intensive: cut the band, solder the new piece and then shape it to match the old shank perfectly. This is similar work to sizing it down by hand (except that, then, you don't have to shape the new bit of gold, just reround the ring). Also, in reducing half a size, there won't even be gold to hand back - the saw cut itself will probably be enough to take it down to the right size.

 

[MissStepcut]

Often, when sizing down a ring, the ring will be compressed with a special tool (Like this: http://www.riogrande.com/MemberArea/ProductPage.aspx?assetname=116081&page=GRID&free_text=ring+stretcher), which doesn't require cutting out material.

But let's look at the cases where the ring is cut. There are two problems with handing the gold back.

The first is the amount of gold. To resize a ring from a size 6 to a 5, there is a 2.4mm difference in circumference. Considering 18kt gold and a 2mm round shank (just to make my numbers easier), that bit of gold weighs around 0.1grams, which, at today's prices represents around $4 (which is why the price for a gold band is usually the same for a size range of, say, 5-9). If you consider that some of that gold becomes metal dust, it is even less.

Now, let's consider how a bench jeweler works. Jobs are done in batches - resizing ten rings, for example. All 10 rings are cut, then all are reshaped, then soldered, etc. To be able to return the gold, the person doing the resizing would have to put down the saw, hunt for a small bit of gold somewhere on the bench drawer, pick it up, put it in a baggie, staple the baggie to the work order and then pick the saw back up to move to the next ring. That is a lot of work and it throws the rhythm of the work off, slowing everything down.

This comports with my experience: when I have had rings sized down, they came back thicker.

 

[vsc]

This comports with my experience: when I have had rings sized down, they came back thicker.

That's pretty cool. I wonder how many sizes they can compress it down by? Is this a common equipment for jewelers to have? I would LOVE to be able to size down that plain wedding band and make it thicker, as it is a little bit on the thin size right now.