After many hours spent looking for an engagement ring you finally  found The One. It's just as it should be. You already chose the material  and the gemstone. You could just hit the 'purchase' button but... you  don't know the ring size. And now what to do? In this article you will  learn what are the methods of measuring a ring size and how to execute  them, and how to achieve it in secret. But firstly, an important  question: on which finger should an engagement ring be worn?

In most countries around the world, US, UK and Canada included, the  ring is worn on the (surprise surprise) ring finger of the left hand.  The ring finger is the fourth one, between the middle finger and pinky.  There are countries where engagements ring are worn also on ring  fingers, but on the right hand, e.g. in Poland. It's noteworthy because  usually fingers of the dominant hand are slightly larger. This being  said, it's just tradition and engagement rings can be worn on whichever  finger you want.

If secrecy is not a problem then by far the best method of  measuring a finger is to go to a local goldsmith who has specialized  tools for that. But that's rarely the case with engagement rings, isn't  it?

If you want the engagement to be a  surprise, the local goldsmith can still be your best option. He can  measure a ring that's actually worn by your future fiancee on the right  finger. For that you'll need to steal that ring - at least for the time  you need to run to the goldsmith and back.

If you live in a small town and there's no goldsmith nearby, don't  worry. You can still measure the stolen ring size by yourself, using  calipers. If you're not sure how to read the measurement, you can take a  photo of the calipers and send it to the goldsmith that will make the  ring. 

What if there's no goldsmith, no calipers or you couldn't get a  ring? There are other methods. They might be less precise, but if everything else fails they are a pretty good method. With a bit of practice and luck, you can get the size right :)

You  can ask for help. This idea comes from one of my clients who wanted to  buy a ring for her friend. She invited her to get their fingers measured  just for fun. You might ask a friend or relative of your SO to take  your future fiancee shopping and try on rings for fun or pretending to  buy a ring for someone else.

The last method will require some dexterity from you. You can  measure the ring size during night, when your love is asleep. Cut out a strip of paper and wrap it around the right finger and mark the overlap with a pen. And have a  story prepared to explain what are you doing in case your love wakes up during the procedure :) The length you marked off will be the inside  circumference of the ring and can be measured with a ruler.

Cut a piece of paper 3-5 mm wide and ca. 10 cm long. Wrap it around the  right finger, not too tightly - don't use any force. Check also around  the knuckles, some people have thin fingers but big knuckles and that  has to be taken in consideration when choosing a ring size.  On the photos the ends of the paper strip are not perfectly on top of  one another to show where they overlap. When measuring make sure they  overlap the best they can to resemble a paper band. Then mark the place  where they overlap with a pen.

You  can also use ready made ring gauge sets, which are very precise - but  if you're caught using them, you're gonna have a hard time making it  sound like you don't plan to propose in the near future :)

Is there anything more to know? 

After the wedding engagement rings are often worn next to the wedding  band or on the other hand or just worn occasionally. The first option is  great if the two rings fit to each other - you can find such matching  wedding bands to our chevron engagement rings in our shop. 

When choosing wedding bands it's best to have your rings measured at a  goldsmith. There are two types of ring gauges, wide and thin. Thin ones  are great for rings, while wide ones (on photo) are better for wedding  bands. 

What about different ring scales? What ring scale should I use? 

Many countries use different ring scales. The most popular ones ar the  US scale (e.g. US 7 1/2), UK scale (e.g. P) and German/Swiss (eg. either  54 or 14) which is used in most European countries. If you're not sure  which is used in your country and you'd like to order abroad, it's best  to use inner circumference which is recognized worldwide. You can also  use a conversion chart, like the one below:

What if I choose a wrong size?

If you order in my shop  then worry not. I resize my rings for free, the only cost is shipping.  I did it numerous times as those mistakes are quite common and the  difference between the real ring size and the ordered one can be quite  spectacular. So don't worry :) Making a ring bigger is usually not a big  deal, while sizing down will require using high temperatures which some  gemstones are sensitive to. In that case, a gemstone must be first  taken out of the ring and set again after the size is right. It's all  doable :)

If you have anymore questions or are unsure about anything, please write me a message - I'll be happy to help.