This is the question we are asked most often before a proposal, and it carries more anxiety than it deserves. Most rings can be resized. Getting it close is enough.
What works
- Borrow a ring she already wears on that finger. Bring it in, we measure it in a minute and you return it the same day.
- Press one of her rings into a bar of soap. Crude, and accurate enough for us to work from.
- Ask a sister or a close friend. In our experience they know, and they are usually delighted to be asked.
- Bring us a photograph of her hand holding something of known size. Least accurate of the four, and still better than a guess.
What does not work
String around her finger while she sleeps. The tension is never right and fingers swell overnight. And printable paper sizing charts, which are thrown out by the scaling of a home printer often enough that we stopped recommending them.
If it is wrong
Most settings resize up or down by about two sizes without trouble. Full eternity bands and some tension settings cannot be resized at all, which is worth knowing before you choose one. Fingers also change through the year (hands are measurably larger in a Johannesburg February than in a July), so we size to a comfortable middle rather than to the day you happen to come in.
Which finger, and which hand
A ring she wears on her right ring finger is usually within half a size of the left, but not always; the dominant hand tends to run slightly larger. A ring from her little finger or index finger tells you almost nothing useful. If the only ring you can borrow is from the wrong finger, say so when you bring it in and we will allow for it rather than treat it as exact.
Sizes in South Africa are usually quoted on the British letter scale, sometimes on the American number scale, and the two do not map cleanly at the half sizes. Whatever you have been told, bring the source: the ring, the soap, the photograph. We would rather measure than convert.
Close is fine. We would far rather resize a ring afterwards than have you delay asking because you were not certain.
Can a ring be resized before she has worn it, without her knowing?
Yes. If you discover the correct size after the ring is made but before the proposal, most settings can be adjusted in a few days and the ring returned looking exactly as it did. The exceptions are the same as always: full eternity bands, some tension settings and very thin bands, which have little metal to work with. If you are unsure of the size and want that flexibility, mention it at the design stage so the band is made in a profile that resizes cleanly.
