Our Free Ring Sizing Service – What you Need to Know – Laurelle UK
At Laurelle Antique Jewellery we offer free ring sizing on all of our rings – we want to make sure that you can wear your selected piece as soon as it arrives.
Over the years that we’ve been in business our customers have asked us a lot of questions about the process, so we thought we’d put together a brief guide so that you know exactly what’s involved.
How do I find my ring size?
The best way to get an accurate ring size is to measure a ring which already fits your preferred ring finger comfortably. Using a ring sizer, sometimes called a “wand”, will allow you to slide the ring to the correct size. This will give you a letter from A to Z for British sizing and a number from 1 to 15 for American sizing. As we’re based in the UK we typically use letters, but if you send us either size we can work with that.
If you don’t have a comfortable ring to measure you can measure your finger directly with a ring sizer gauge. These will give you a number of rings to test and determine how comfortable they feel to you. Remember to make sure that you can comfortably remove the size you set, as the sizer will be slimmer than most ring shanks.
Both of these tools are available online for a fairly modest price, although your local jewellers will have the tools to measure you accurately.
If you don’t have access to these tools you can simply use a string or thin strip of paper to do the same job. If you’re using paper you’ll need it to be no wider than 1.4cm (half an inch).
Simply wrap the paper/string around the base of your chosen finger until it forms a complete circle, then mark the point where it overlaps. If you measure the distance between the start of the string/paper and your mark you should be able to find your size with the guide below:
How are Rings Resized?
As all of the items we sell are valuable pieces of history, we make every effort to ensure that any changes preserve the look and feel of the original piece.
To begin with, we only use a jeweller who has a proven track record, and many years of experience in modifying and repairing antiques.
Using their specialist knowledge, the jeweller will determine the best way to approach the resizing. Where the ring needs to be smaller they will remove a piece of metal from the shank (the section at the back of the ring) before soldering the edges back together and polishing to remove the join. When increasing the size of the ring by a small amount the jeweller may stretch the existing metalwork, whereas larger changes will require them to solder in additional metal.
Rings with plain metal bands are relatively straightforward to resize, whilst those with designs that wrap around the shank or stones set into them will require more work. Some of the most elaborate rings are not suitable for resizing, but our team will advise you if your selected piece falls into this category.
We typically allow 1 to 2 weeks for the resizing process. Once completed there should be no outward sign that any work has been done.
If you have any questions about our sizing process, or need any other advice on the type of ring you are looking for, please don’t hesitate to [get in touch]. Our expert team is always happy to help.
Take a look at our ever-changing collection of antique rings here.