Can Engagement Rings be Resized?
There can be plenty of reasons why an engagement ring might not fit. Perhaps it’s a family heirloom that you want to give to your partner, or perhaps it’s been a long time since you’ve worn the ring and it’s now too small or too big. If this is the case, you might be wondering, can engagement rings be resized?
Generally speaking, engagement rings can be resized with only a minor amount of work. However, rings with stones on the whole band, or those made from more brittle metals (such as rose gold) usually pose too much difficulty, and so can’t be resized.
While the answer to this question is usually yes, the best way to confirm will be to take your ring to a local jeweller, as they’ll be able to give you much more specific information about your particular ring.
Resizing an engagement ring
The first thing to note when talking about engagement rings is that it helps to know your partner’s ring size before buying, as this saves the whole resizing process. If you don’t want to ask them directly, borrow one of their rings as a template, and this should give a jeweller enough information to recommend the best size.
The process of resizing an engagement ring is fairly simple, and jewellers typically use two methods. For resizing, it’s best to have the wearer’s exact ring size, which can be measured in most jewellery stores.
To make an engagement ring smaller, the jeweller will remove some of the metal from the ring, and then solder the two ends together. By the time this is polished up the join is barely noticeable. Also, they’ll typically make the cut somewhere inconspicuous.
For making the ring larger, the band is cut and then a small piece of extra metal is added. The joins are then soldered and polished to hide them. As you may have guessed, making a ring larger generally costs more because of the extra materials involved.
Jewellers can also stretch rings to make them bigger. However, this process isn’t ideal for styles such as halo engagement rings, or halo engagement rings with oval stones, as the extra stones can be damaged in the process.
How long does the process take?
The time it takes to resize an engagement ring depends on the style and the work involved. For example, a simple band with few stones will be much easier to work on than something complicated like a halo engagement ring with oval stone.
