Having a ring sized is something most people do at least once in their lifetime. Losing or gaining weight, pregnancy, arthritis, finger or knuckle injuries are all factors that can cause one’s finger size to change. Ever wondered how ring sizings are done? Keep on reading…
First things first, it’s important to know that not all rings can be sized. Eternity bands with diamonds set all the way around cannot be resized, nor can tungsten or titanium or other alternative metals that are too hard to cut and size. There is also a limit to how much a ring can be sized– let’s say you inherit a family ring that is a size 7, but your finger is a size 4. It may not be possible to bring a ring so far down in size. There is no universal price for a ring sizing, so we evaluate every ring sizing job case by case. No two jobs are the same and some are more complicated than others.
For a basic sizing job, though, of course we begin by determining how much it needs to be sized. This ring was a stock size 6 and needed to be taken down half a size.
You can see that the ring measures 6 on our sizing mandrel.
Step one: measure how much needs to be cut from the bottom of the ring. This sizing disc is in a 1/2 size and allows the jeweler to cut precisely the right amount of metal from the ring.
The half size has been cut out from the bottom of the ring, and now the two ends must be joined back together.
The ring is held in pliers and has a solder strip over the cut, which will be used to join it back together.
The solder strip has been heated with a torch and the bottom of the ring is joined back together. The white substance is borax, which protects the metal from getting burnt.
The ring is placed in an acid bath to remove tarnish and markings from the heat of the torch.
The ring is hammered in order to round out the bottom and restore the shape it had before.
The inside and outside of the ring are sanded to ensure a smooth finish.
After having been sanded and smoothed, the ring is ready. It just needs a final wipe and maybe some polishing.
…and that’s it! The ring has been taken a half size down and is now a 5½.
