How to measure ring size and what a properly fitting ring should feel like on your finger.
Ring size is:
Ring size is directly correlates to finger or ring diameter. Different countries have different scales, but we’ll be talking about US ring size since most of our business is done in the US.
Sizes are generally offered in full sizes (‘7’, ‘11’) and half sizes (‘7.5’, ‘4.5’) many jewelers also offer quarter sizes (‘5.75’). Any division smaller than that is hard to manufacture within tolerance and hard to discern by clients.
Ring size is typically between 4 and 12, estimated by the formula:
Ring diameter (mm) = 11.55+size_us*.82
But do not try to measure size yourself.
The difference in diameter between a size 6 and a size 7 is about 0.82mm, which you are going to be hard pressed to measure accurately.
Instead, go to a jewelry shop and ask to be sized. They will have metal sizers that will fit very similarly to a finished ring. It generally takes less than 2 minutes to find your size.
While they do work passably, we do not recommend sizing yourself with cheap plastic sizers, as the shape of the sizer cross section, the width of the sizer, and the material of the sizer all affect the feeling of the fit.
Rings that fit well should generally go onto the finger easily with a small amount of resistance or friction. They should never have to be forced on. The should also not slide on so easily that there’s no friction.
When taken off, a properly fitting ring should catch, resist gently, and be able to pulled off without pain or a feeling of “is this going to be stuck”. A perfectly fitting ring will often be somewhat difficult to remove while the finger is tense and straight, but easily removable when the finger is relaxed and bent. The ring should not be so loose that it can be thrown off while waving or flipping your hand from side to side.
All people’s fingers fluctuate in size on a daily and yearly time frame. Fingers will generally be at their most slim early in the morning, if you are cold, and if you are at you lowest weight. When you are hot, have more blood in your fingers from walking or other exercise, or are heavier than average, your fingers will be larger.
If you’re shopping in summer and have been walking around, your finger size will often measure 1/4 to 1 size larger than it might be during the winter when you’ve been sitting.
So when measuring your size, take note of the season, the weather, and your body. Don’t try to anticipate the future by choosing a size that is uncomfortable now, but recognize that there needs to be a little bit of margin in your choice of size to account for changes to your finger size throughout the year.
Most people without arthritis will be able to find a size of ring that fits them securely but removably at all times of the year.
Many clients want to try to guess the size of their partners finger to avoid spoiling the surprise of proposal. While we never recommend 100% surprise in a proposal (it’s impossible to perfectly guess the proposee’s preferences), if you aren’t able to involve the wearer for a sizing, you can take a ring that they wear on another finger to a jeweler to get you in the right ballpark. This ring would preferably be worn on the third finger of their other hand. It won’t be exactly the same and the ring will likely have to be resized, but it should get you close enough to avoid large resizing changes that could compromise the integrity of the ring.
Most styles of rings can be resized up or down a couple sizes with no issue for a small to moderate cost.
Price varies with the amount of gold that has to be added to increase the size, but is often in the range of $50 - $250 depending on the ring and the jeweler. Some jewelers (like us) also offer complimentary resizing within some time of your purchase date in case you got it wrong.
Certain styles (such as those with stones all the way around the band, or those set in unique ways with fragile stones) are difficult or impossible to make large size changes to. Not all jewelers will proactively disclose that a style will be hard or expensive to resize, so we recommend asking about resizing as part of your shopping process.
As a concierge jeweler, Noble solves sizing by measuring a final finger size during design approval, either when we meet you for the final consult, or by shipping metal sizers to you in your final design proof package.