One Size Fits All? No Not Quite.

[Dennis]

The subject of ring sizing is so fraught with problems, it’s a wonder anyone offers to make rings at all. You pass your client a bunch of ring sizers and they humour you by choosing one. ‘there’s really no need ‘ they think, ’I just take the usual size’. Anyhow they are late for something more urgent. A few weeks later they return with their ring in a box. ‘I love my ring they say, but could you just…’ Here are some of the problems:

Rings made of wider material need to be much larger to fit the same finger, maybe by two sizes. Other factors such as bevelled inner edges or even a high polish might make the ring seem looser. So if you value your sanity, and wish to remain solvent you might factor in a mock-up in base metal which, once proved correct, can be copied faithfully. At the very least use ring sizers of the same width and contour as the intended ring.

If you add a heavy stone on a tall setting, the ring will still swivel disconcertingly and to my knowledge the only remedy then is to add a spring. This might also have to be the answer for someone with fatter than usual knuckles, or whose hands swell periodically.

I have been told that because knuckles are oval in shape, thinner from top to bottom than from side to side, rings can be oval too, but the other way. They are then put on sideways and straightened up for a tight fit. I have always resisted this because I cannot get my head around sizing oval shanks.

Other problems arise when the shank is square or D shaped and the ring stick can no longer be used to guide you. Then it is time to play the Memory Game. Using a ring the client is happy with, pass it over one of your own knuckles that it fits well. Then make a note: ‘Very tight over the first knuckle of R. index finger’, for example. Aim to make the new ring feel similar, but try a mock-up first. Make the client try the final version again before setting any stones. You can become so good at this that you use it to double check all your rings.

If all else fails here is my design for an adjustable ring. The curly bit can easily be pinched with pliers to tighten it, or the ring can be pushed up a ring stick to enlarge it. The scheme shown below is for the shank of this size O ring on 1mm graph paper. I used 1.6mm square wire with the edges bevelled. Both parts are identical, but one has been turned over and then they were soldered together. Dennis.