If you want to buy a ring as a gift, for your engagement or just like that, and do it without trying on a jewelry store, then you will need to solve one difficult problem. What is the best way to determine the size of a ring secretly so that your partner doesn’t guess anything? How to determine the size of the ring by diameter, what methods exist? Let's get it right.
Why is proper ring size important?
Make the ring wider or already possible, but such an operation always contains risks. Even the most experienced jeweler can make a mistake. Therefore, if you buy a ring for yourself or even a wedding ring, take your time and measure accurately.
Interesting features
Since the human body is not completely symmetrical, the fingers of the left and right hands are often different. Therefore, you should already know in advance on which finger the ring will be subsequently worn. For example, a wedding ring is usually located on the right ring finger. Or you can take a thread or strip of paper and wrap it around your finger so that it is not too tight or too weak. Next, mark the intersection and trim the strip.
Jewelers determine the size of a ring by its diameter. This is the line connecting the opposite ends of the circle. To calculate it, you need to use one formula from mathematics. It is necessary to take a trimmed strip of paper or thread (for calculations it is better to use mm) and divide by the number Pi (3.14). The number that results from division is the size of the ring.
How to determine the size of the ring by diameter? There is another way, more accurate. To do this, wrap the thread around a certain finger 5 times, without sagging and excessive compression. Next, you need to cut the thread, straighten it and measure with a ruler. Then you just need to divide the resulting figure by 15.7. This will result in a more accurate size. This figure should be rounded to half a millimeter. For example, if the diameter of your finger is 16.3, then the size of the ring will be 16.5.
Dimensional stencil
Ring size stencil simplifies measurements. This is a thin sheet of plastic, cardboard or paper, which has holes of different sizes. Each hole is marked with a corresponding ring size. To determine the size of the ring, all you have to do is try fingerprints.
Can I resize the finished ring?
Whether the rolling or expanding procedures are applicable to your ring or not depends on how well the ring was filled with stones and the material from which it was made. Gold and platinum rings are generally easy to change, but stainless steel rings are a big problem. Gems may lose their grip with the changes made, so they may need to be reinserted. Engravings on the ring sometimes have to be completely recreated.
Foreign systems for ring sizes
The Vienna Measurement Association is widespread in Germany. The size corresponds to the circumference of the inner side of the ring in millimeters. The French measure is a bit more complicated, because in this case another 40 millimeters are subtracted from the diameter of the ring (formula: diameter - 40 = ring size). For English measurement, a letter is assigned to each ring circumference. The appropriate size can be determined using diagrams. It is similar to the American system of measurements, except that they assign numbers instead of letters.
Determining the size of your finger depends on the country in which you buy your ring. Is there a difference between men and women regarding finger sizes? Not. Everything is measured on the same scale. Male hands are simply prone to larger sizes than female ones, and therefore fall under large numbers. The same goes for shoe size.
There are several systems for designating the sizes of jewelry rings used around the world. In the United States and Canada, ring sizes are determined using a numerical scale, with quarterly and half sizes. In Ireland, the United Kingdom and Australia, ring sizes are determined using an alphabetical scale with half sizes. In India, Japan and China, a numerical scale is used that only has all dimensions and does not have a simple linear correlation with diameter or circle.
In Austria, Germany, Belgium, Scandinavia and France, the ring size is determined by diameter using the actual inner circumference in mm. Half sizes may be used in some countries. In Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Switzerland, ring sizes are indicated as a circumference of minus 40 mm. There are tons of different ring measuring systems depending on where you live. Fortunately, there are convenient charts that allow jewelers to convert metrics from one system to another.
How to know the size of the ring by diameter?
Trying to secretly determine the size of the ring? Try the true diameter method. With it, you can find out the size of the ring by diameter. This method gives a more accurate size as the size of the ring can also be measured using the inner diameter, as this is the narrowest part of the ring. To do this, you need a flat ruler with millimeter division.
How to find out the size of the ring? Detailed instructions can help. Put the ring on the ruler and align the inside of one edge with the beginning of one centimeter. Then adjust the ring to the widest point covering the measurements on the ruler. Count how many mm between the two inner edges - this is the inner diameter.
Tips & Tricks
Before measuring the size of the ring by diameter or in any other way, it is worth considering a number of important points:
- Firstly, do not take measurements in the morning, as often the fingers will be slightly swollen after sleep, which is due to purely physiological processes.
- Secondly, it is not recommended to measure the ring immediately after physical exertion, after sports, as a rule, fingers can also slightly swell.
- Thirdly, it is necessary to take into account weather conditions, in hot and cold measurements may vary slightly.
- Fourth, you need to remember that the same fingers, but on different hands can have different sizes. This is due to the fact that on the "working" hand, the fingers are usually larger by an average of 0.5-1 size.
Reliable and unusual measurement methods
- How to determine the size of the ring by diameter? You can use the most obvious way. To do this, you need to secretly borrow the jewelry of your half, bring it to the jewelry store, where the jeweler will quickly and easily and, of course, with absolute probability will tell you the necessary parameters. The main thing is not to forget then to return this very ringlet to its place.
- If you do not want to engage in theft, even if noble, there is another option. You need to take a piece of jewelry and a sheet of paper, circle the inner circle of the ring with a pencil or pen, then roll the paper into a tube, put it into the ring to make sure that the paper is tight against the metal. Then you need to fix the paper tube with a paper clip, for example. It will turn out something like a home-made measuring tube.
- An even simpler way is to try on yourself. You need to put the ring as far on the finger and mark or remember the end point. And then we go to the jeweler and consult with him about further actions.
- You can use the table with ready-made data. For example, a diameter ring of size 18 will be 18.19 millimeters. All you need to do is just take advantage of the writings and calculations of other people. For example, a ring with a diameter of 2 cm will be 20.5.