How to Find Her Ring Size Without Asking

A ring from her index finger is a different size from the ring finger. A ring from the right hand is often a different size from the left. In the US the engagement ring goes on the left ring finger. Borrow a ring that lives on that finger, or you have measured the wrong thing with great care.

1. Take the ring when she will not need it for a few hours. A jewelry dish at night works better than a heist during dinner.
2. Measure the inside diameter: inside edge to inside edge, in millimeters, looking straight down so the ruler is not tilted.
3. Convert. Diameter of 16.5 mm is about a US 6. Diameter of 17.3 mm is about a US 7. The formula and the full table are on the ring size chart.
4. Write the millimeter, not just the US size. Put the ring back the same day.

If you cannot measure diameter cleanly, wrap a non-stretch paper strip around the inside, mark it, and measure the strip. Do not wrap the outside. The outside includes the gold and will read large.

Set the ring on a firm paper and trace the inner hole with a fine pen, held straight up. Measure the traced circle across the middle in millimeters. A tilted pen makes an oval, and an oval makes you buy the wrong size. Trace twice. If the two diameters disagree, the pen leaned.

This is less accurate than a mandrel and more accurate than a memory of "she seems like a 6." Compare the trace to the chart the same day, while you remember which finger the ring came from. A wide band and a thin band from the same finger can trace differently in how they feel, even when the hole is the same. Note the width. If her everyday ring is a skinny band and you are ordering a wide one, read the wide-band note on the chart before you copy the size exactly.

A sister, a roommate or a friend who has shopped with her is allowed to know the size. Ask for the finger and the hand, not just a number. "She's a 6" might mean a pinky in high school. Ask when she was sized, and whether that ring still fits. Fingers change. A number from five years ago is a rumor.

Do not ask her "hypothetically" if she is the sort of person who hears a ring question as a ring question. The borrow method is quieter. If the friend can only get you a photo of the ring on the finger, that photo is not a measurement. Perspective in a phone picture changes diameter. You need the ring, or a tracing, or a number from a real sizing.

If you have nothing, US shops see many women's ring fingers around sizes 5 to 7. That is not permission to order a 6. A small hand is often a 4.5 or a 5. A larger hand is often a 7.5 or an 8. Height is a weak clue. Knuckles are a better one, and you still should not guess them from across a table.

People repeat the advice to size up because, in the trade, a plain band can often be cut down more easily than it can be stretched up. Stretching a ring thins the shank. Sizing up properly means cutting the band and adding gold. Sizing down means cutting and removing gold. Some designs cannot do either: eternity bands with stones all the way around, tension settings, and very thin shanks with milgrain that you do not want to disturb. Wikipedia's ring-size notes and bench references describe those methods. They are not a promise from this shop.

Franky's published policies do not list resizing, repairs or a free fix if the surprise is the wrong size. All sales are final. Before you order a size you are unsure of, call 954-504-5640 and ask what is possible on that exact ring. Read ring resizing so you know which designs are hard everywhere, not just here.

Size first, shape second. A pear and an oval hide size differently on a small hand, but neither one changes the millimeter of the finger. Start from lab diamond engagement rings, then compare pear, oval, radiant and emerald. A 2 carat conversation is a different page: 2 carat engagement rings.

If you can delay the surprise by a day, bring her ring to the showroom at 7900 NW 27th Ave, Unit 506, Miami FL 33147 and have it read on a mandrel. That hour is cheaper than the wrong size. A mandrel reads the inside of the ring. A photo of the ring on her hand does not. The measurement method, if you are sizing your own hand instead, is how to measure ring size at home.