Resizing Your Engagement Ring

If you’re going to wear your engagement ring for the rest of your life, you may as well make sure it fits perfectly. Here’s what you need to know.

First: Don’t Jump to Conclusions!

The big moment arrives, and your life changes forever. He gets down on one knee, opens up a little black box, and there sits your sparkling new engagement ring. But there’s just one problem; it’s a little too loose (or a little too tight). Do NOT worry! And also, do not jump the gun and get it resized straight away – unless it’s literally falling off your finger or won’t go past your knuckle. Your fingers can swell up or contract depending on the temperature and a host of other factors; and sometimes the difference can be as much as one or two ring sizes. If it fits reasonably well but it’s not 100% perfect, try living with it for a while; wear it in a variety of different circumstances for at least a couple of days and see how it feels then.

How to Tell if You Should Resize Your Ring

For first time ring wearers it can be difficult to tell how tight or loose a ring should be in the first place. If you’ve worn your ring for a while and still aren’t sure if it’s the right fit for you, here’s some advice. The perfect size ring for you should go on to your finger easily and come off with a little bit of a pull. When you’re wearing it SHOULD feel a tad tight, but not uncomfortably so.

Can Your Engagement Ring Be Resized?

The answer is most likely yes. The process of resizing a ring is pretty straight forward. To go down a size, jewellers will simply cut the necessary amount of metal from the band and solder it back together. To increase in size, the opposite happens; they make a cut in the ring, and add another piece of metal instead. For rings that only need very slight modification, the band is simply stretched using specialist tools. Once resized, your ring is then cleaned and polished, leaving no trace that any modification has taken place. Most, but not all engagement rings can be resized this way.

What Kind of Rings Can’t Be Resized?

Sadly, cutting and soldering doesn’t work for all engagement rings. ‘Eternity’ rings that have gemstones running around the entire band are one such type. The particular design of these rings means that there’s too little metal to work with; attempting to resize means potentially damaging the stones and undoing the natural balance of the design. The only solution is having the ring remade in the correct size (but you can at least use the same stones). Extremely tough metals like tungsten, titanium and stainless steel are also a no-go, as are some non-metal materials like wood, glass or quartz. Tension settings can be tricky too, because resizing can upset the tensile strength and cause the stone to fall out or become misaligned.

There is a makeshift solution however; for some ‘unresizable’ rings, a jeweller can simply add beads of metal or a temporary bar to the inside of the band to help it fit more securely on your finger. So, all is not lost.

How Long Does Resizing a Ring Take?

Depending on the design, not long. The actual job of resizing can be as quick as just a couple of minutes, but most jewellers have plenty of other things to do – including a queue of other engagement rings waiting to be resized or altered before yours. Expect a turnaround of a few days for simple fixes, and a week or two for more complex designs.

How Much Does Resizing a Ring Cost?

Compared to the cost of your engagement ring, getting it resized is pretty cheap. The exact cost of resizing depends on the materials used and cost of labour, but you should expect somewhere in the ballpark of $50 – $100, maybe more for complicated resizes.

Anything Else You Need to Know?

There’s one way to prevent needing a resize; get your ring finger measured first! Jewellers are experts, and they know how to take account of finger swelling/contracting to find your perfect size. Also, beware of getting your ring resized multiple times; it can affect the durability of your band and lead to problems down the line. But most of all, once your ring feels comfortable, just sit back and enjoy it!