In all situations where you cannot try on a piece of jewelry — for example, to buy a ring online, order your wedding rings, offer a signet ring or an engagement ring — you will need to know the size of the ring. What techniques are there to measure your finger or to know the size of a ring you own? Follow the advice of Bijouteries Gemme to avoid making a mistake!
The importance of choosing a ring that fits you
Wearing a well-fitting ring is a question of comfort, practicality and safety.
A piece of jewelry that is too big of course runs the risk of being lost. It will also turn freely on the finger. If it is a stone ring, the setting will then regularly end up on the palm side of the hand, by natural gravity. The risk is then to damage the stone by subjecting it to shocks and friction. From a comfort point of view, a ring that is too big can exert unpleasant pressure on the adjacent fingers, but also sit at an angle and cause pinching.
A ring that is too small, on the other hand, may be completely unusable if it cannot be put on. In other cases, a size error will force you to wear it on a different finger than the one it was intended for. A little too tight, the ring will not allow for the natural variations in the size of your fingers, which are likely to swell in the event of high heat, weight gain or hormonal variations. And if you can no longer remove your ring, you will no longer be able to maintain it properly either!
Using a ring sizer
A practical accessory for measuring the size of a finger or a ring, the ring sizer comes in the form of a panel of rings to try on, a graduated cone, or a cardboard or plastic board perforated with discs representing the different ring sizes. This latest version has the advantage of being printable, and therefore usable at home.
Using a tape
If you need to measure the circumference of your finger, use a graduated tape directly. Failing that, get a string, which you will wrap around your finger and then measure the length flat.
In general, finger measurements should be taken at the end of the day, and at an average temperature. The size of the joint must be taken into account!
Using a ruler
With a ruler, you can measure the diameter of a ring, and therefore deduce the circumference of the ring. All you have to do is multiply the diameter by π (3.14)! Make sure to position your ruler in the center of the ring, that is, where you will get the largest measurement.
Size/diameter and circumference correspondence table
The size of a ring corresponds to the circumference of the ring, in millimeters. Each size/circumference corresponds to an internal diameter. To know the size of a ring, it is indeed more practical to measure its diameter than its circumference! The table below summarizes the measurement correspondences:
How not to make a mistake in size for a gift
You want to offer an second-hand ring old or contemporary but you don't know if the size will be suitable?
First, you can try to find the information from the person's entourage. The second solution is to secretly measure a reference ring.
If you are hesitating between two jewelry sizes, always choose the larger one: this way you are sure that it can be worn.
Finally, know that it is possible to have the size of a ring changed! Gemme jewelry stores offer this service. Our experts are also at your disposal to appraise an 18-carat gold ring. Specialists in second-hand antique and contemporary jewelry, we estimate the value of vintage rings taking into account the jewelry quality, the rarity