A proper ring should slide onto your finger fairly smoothly but resist just slightly when you take it off. If you feel like the ring is difficult to remove or is too easily sliding up and down your finger, you may want to get your ring resized by a jeweler.
Before you head to the jeweler’s, wear your ring for a few days to see how it feels over time. Your fingers will swell and shrink throughout the day and based upon the weather, so you may find it fits perfectly in the morning and too tightly at night.
Resizing a ring is usually very inexpensive, between $50 – $100, far less than the cost of a too-big ring that falls off your finger. Some jewelers may even offer free resizing, particularly for engagement rings purchased through them.
Here are your different options to making your ring larger or smaller for the perfect fit.
Is It Better to Have a Ring Too Small or Too Big?
If you’re in between sizes or shopping for a loved one and don’t know their ring size, opt for the larger size. It’s easier for a large ring to be resized smaller than a small ring to be made bigger.
Resizing a Ring to Make It Larger
You may have heard of jeweler’s stretching a ring’s band to make it larger. However, we strongly advise against this method as it tends to distort the shape of the ring and weaken its overall structural integrity.
The most common means to enlarge the ring size is to add metal to increase the band’s circumference. In this process, the jeweler will snip the ring’s band (or shank) and insert a small piece of metal between the two cut ends to expand the ring’s size. The ends are soldered to this new piece of added metal. Then the whole ring is smoothed and polished for a perfect finish.
Resizing a Ring to Make It Smaller
Similarly, to make your ring smaller, a jeweler will snip the ring’s shank and cut out a small piece from the band. After this part of the band is removed, the two ends are then soldered back together. The jeweler will then clean the ring for a smooth and brilliant finish.
Rings That Cannot Be Resized
Unfortunately, not every ring can be resized. Particularly thin bands, eternity bands, or bands set with delicate and inset stones cannot be resized through either aforementioned resizing method.
However, if your ring is too big and cannot be properly resized, you can try a ring guard. A ring guard is a rubber of plastic tube that wraps around your ring’s shank to effectively make it smaller and sits on the underside of your finger where it will be fairly inconspicuous.
Ring guards or plastic resizers are not considered a long term solution to fixing your ring size problem. We suggest discussing your options with your jeweler to safely modify your ring for a better fit.
The smartest way to ensure your ring fits is to know your ring size before you buy. To determine a comfortable and appropriate ring size, check out our ring sizing guide here!
