Ring Resizing Phoenix

Learn about Ring Resizing

Fingers change. Weight, pregnancy, heat, age, the time of day, whether you have just been for a run — ring size is not a fixed number, and a ring that fit perfectly at the engagement does not always fit perfectly five years later. Resizing is routine work, but doing it well takes more thought than simply making the band bigger or smaller.

Sizing down

We remove a section of the shank, bring the ends together, solder the join and restore the profile so the seam disappears. Done properly, the join is invisible and no weaker than the original band. Sizing down is generally the more forgiving direction and is possible on most plain and lightly set bands.

Sizing up

This means adding metal, matched to the original in color and karat. Going up a size or two is straightforward on most rings. Going up substantially can thin the band and change how the setting sits, so on a heavily set ring there is a practical limit before the structure is compromised. We will tell you where that limit falls on your particular piece rather than pushing past it and hoping.

Rings that need extra care

• Eternity bands — stones run the full circumference, so there is no plain metal to cut. Resizing usually is not possible; the options are remaking the ring or having stones removed and reset.
• Tension settings — the stone is held by the spring pressure of the band itself. Altering the shank changes that pressure, so these need specialist assessment.
• Pave and channel-set shanks — stones sit in the part of the band that would be cut. Sometimes workable, often not.
• Titanium, tungsten and ceramic — these generally cannot be resized at all and have to be replaced.
• Rings engraved inside the band — tell us before we start so we can plan the cut around it.

Getting the size right

Come in during the middle of the day if you can. Fingers are smallest first thing in the morning and swell in the Phoenix heat, so a size taken at 7am often turns out to be a size too small by an August afternoon. We size in person and account for knuckle clearance, band width and how you actually wear the ring — a wide band needs a slightly larger size than a thin one to feel the same.

Simple resizes can be done in as little as 48 hours. Rings needing setting work alongside the resize take longer, and we will tell you how long when we look at it.

While a ring is with us we check the setting as a matter of course and flag anything needing prong work before it becomes a problem. Book an appointment to get sized.