Sizing your rings properly isn’t quite as easy as just ‘get a size and there we go.’ You want to take a couple things into account when getting your fingers sized or when sizing at home. Type of ring, time of the day, and time of year can all play a huge role between a comfortably fitting ring and one that annoys the heck out of you. Keep reading below to see our thoughts on sizing, and please let us know what you think in the comments!
Alright, first things first, you’re shopping for a ring and need to go get your finger sized. A lot of jewelers will do this for you in store, without you having to purchase anything. They’ll simply bring out a metal sizer, and you’ll try them on until you find the one that feels the most comfortable. Seems simple right? Not so much. Here are a couple tricky scenarios and our tips to get around them:
Is it summer or winter? Cold hands will shrink while hot hands will swell.
If you’re worried about cold hands, I recommend browsing around the store and letting your hands warm up, grabbing that starbucks you passed to hold onto something warm (and delicious), or making this your first stop on your shopping trip so your hands haven’t gotten cold yet from being outside.
If it’s summer, and you’re worried about hot or swollen hands, going to get sized early in the morning or later in the evening when it isn’t too hot is a great choice to get an accurate read. If time is a constraint, I would let your hands cool down in an air conditioned car or store, browse around, and give them time to cool down and lessen any swelling.
Are you out to brunch with friends, eating salty food and drinking mimosas? (We wish!) Salty foods and alcohol can also make your fingers swell.
We recommend stopping at the jewelry store before brunch, or giving yourself an hour or two before trying on rings to let your body process all that delicious food.
Is it morning or evening? Sometimes our hands swell while we’re sleeping.
This one is less common, but really just listen to your body and know what it does throughout the day. If you’re like me and your hands are tired after a long day of work, you might want to wait for a day off rather than pop over after work.
Now, another really important thing to consider is the size of your ring. Are you looking for a dainty engagement band, or getting a stack of multiple rings? Are you getting a thicker wedding band or a chunky statement ring? This comes greatly into play. A thinner band will fit more comfortably in a smaller size—lets say the difference between a 6 and a 6.5. The wider bands, ring stacks, and anything that adds width to the rings, you will want to size up most likely a quarter to a half size. Some really giant rings might even need more than that.
There’s typically two widths to ring sizers—a thinner more dainty size and thicker more men’s wedding band size. If you’re planning on getting a stack of rings, a thick wedding band, or anything like that, I would ask the jeweler to size you with the larger sizers. If you’re planning on only getting one daintier ring or band, then definitely go will the smaller of the two.
One tip I always tell my customers is to make a fist while trying on the sizer. Most laugh that that idea, saying they don’t typically make fists, but you’d be surprised how often we do all day. Gripping the steering wheel, holding a pen, pushing a stroller, etc, are all things we do frequently that puts our hands in a fist like position. You’d be so surprised how many customers go up a half size after doing this exercise, i urge everyone to not skip it.
Now, for at home sizing, things are going to be a little different. There’s a lot of ways to go about this, with strings, paper, etc. With COVID-19 as well, we also don’t have access to as many in-person amenities, so at home is becoming more and more relevant. If you can purchase this plastic ring sizer, I would recomend doing that for the closest experience to going in person. If not, I would recommend using paper over string. You can see if it’s too tight by doing the fist trick again, and if it snaps, you know to try a little looser. String wont behave the same way, so you might not get an accurate read.
Lastly, don’t ever be embarassed about your ring size or asking for quarter sizes. We want your ring to fit you perfectly, and will never be upset when asking for a quarter size. Hands and fingers come in all different sizes and shapes, and no matter what the size is, we will always strive to make the perfect ring for you.
PRO TIP
One last pro tip, if you get a ring stuck, don’t freak out. Try pinching the skin on your finger at the base, under the ring, while having a friend pull the ring off. In our experience, this works nine times out of ten. Love ya!