Choosing the right ring size

Before you purchase an engagement ring, wedding ring or eternity ring, you'll need to decide on the size you want. Your ring should be snug enough that it will not come off your finger inadvertently but not so tight as to be uncomfortable. But choosing the right ring size isn't always easy. For most people, there are several ring sizes between uncomfortably tight at one extreme and obviously too loose at the other. This means that there is some degree of subjectivity to the question of what is the right size. Some people simply like to wear rings tighter than others. For this reason, your jeweller can advise you, but ultimately only you can say what size feels best.

Measure your finger more than once

Finger size can change with time of day, temperature, exercise, and other factors, so you need to look for a good compromise: a ring size that will work for you whether your hands are hot or cold, never way too loose or painfully tight. For this reason, we recommend that clients get their finger size measured more than once, ideally at different times of the day and ideally on both cold and warm days.

Allow a bigger size for a wider ring

The wider a ring is, the tighter it will feel. If possible, use a sizer ring of a similar width to the ring you plan to buy when measuring your finger size.

Courted bands feel looser than flat bands

Court bands and flat court bands, which are gently curved on the inside (known as comfort-fit in the US), are designed to slide over the knuckle more easily than the more traditional D-shape profile, which is flat on the inside. As a result, you may wish to have a fractionally smaller ring size if you're having a 'courted' band.

Choosing the right ring size when buying a ring as a surprise

There are several ways you can improve your chances of getting the size right, or at least very close to right, without actually measuring your partner's finger.

Firstly, if you're confident that they can be trusted not to blow the surprise, you could try asking your partner's close family or friends whether they know his or her finger size. In the UK, we use an alphabetic scale of ring sizes, but you can use our ring size conversion table to convert from other scales if necessary.

If you're lucky, and they already wear a ring on the correct finger, try to borrow it. If you can bring it in, it would be best if we could measure it for you. If that's not possible, you can use our ring sizing chart to estimate its size. 

Remember that the size of your partner's left-hand ring finger may be different from their right-hand ring finger (usually smaller if they are right-handed and bigger if they are left-handed) and will almost certainly be smaller than any of their other fingers other than their little fingers.

If you're unable to get any tips from friends and family or measure an existing ring, please talk to us – we're very experienced in 'guesstimating' finger sizes based on information about somebody's height and build.

Complimentary resizes

Don't panic if your ring isn't a great fit in the end. Ingle & Rhode offers one complimentary resize with every ring (except certain bespoke designs*). You can read more in our guide to ring resizing, or if you need to arrange for a resize of a ring we made for you, please contact us. Please note that unfortunately, we are unable to offer a resizing service for rings made by other jewellers.

*We will let you know in advance if a design you wish to commission will not be resizable.

Sizing beads

Sometimes, the shape of somebody's finger can mean that the ring size required for a ring to pass over their knuckle is too big once the ring is on. This can result in the ring feeling loose and turning easily on their finger. If you find this applies to you, the best solution is usually to add sizing beads (small 'domes' of gold or platinum) to the inside of the ring. These allow the ring to pass over the knuckle but stop your ring from feeling loose once it is on.