OH GREAT!!! Estimating Ring Size...please help!!!

[DUTCHSWAN0311]

Okay, now I have something else I need help with. I don''t know her ring size, and I can''t get a hold of her current ring. I am clearly wanting to surprise her, so I can''t ask her or get her fitted.

Ring: 1.04ct - I - VS2 - Hearts & Arrows from WhiteFlash.com
Setting: Platinum Tiffany Solitaire

I could find only one ring that I purchased for her about 6 years ago, but it was for her right hand. I took it into the mall to get sized, and 3 different stores told me it was a 6 1/2. I thought, okay fine, I will make her setting a 6 1/2. But then I started to remember some things about the ring that got sized: 1) I THINK it was a bit big on her, and (2) she never wears it (Alexandrite stone with diamond accents).

So, if you are reading this post, please advise. I thought height and weight might be a good indicator. Maybe you all might let me ask a taboo question: What is your Height vs Weight vs Ring Size?

My wife is 5'' 7" and 125 Lbs.

Thanks for your help!

 

[pamplemousse]

Height and weight .. definitely not a good indicator. I''m 5''3" and 115lbs. You''d think I''d have teeny little fingers. I''m a 5 1/2.

If she''s right handed, her right hand fingers are probably a smidge bigger than her left. If it was too big on her, you might be better off with a 6 1/4 ...

That said, I think a plain band solitaire (like the Tiffany''s style that you''re considering) should be easy to size. No pave = no sizing issues. Or few sizing issues anyway.

Anyway.. I''m sure some experts will weigh in soon. But that''s my $.02

 

[motownmama]

I think the rule of thumb is if you''re right-handed that ring size will be larger - so if 6 1/2 was too large perhaps a 6 might be good for the ER - but who really knows. If it''s something that can be tweaked easily I''d go with that - if it''s too small and she can''t even get it on when you propose that''s going to be a bummer. My guy somehow found out my ring size (4 1/4), but the jeweler said that sounded too small (based on what, I don''t know) and made it a 4 1/2 - it was slip sliding the night he proposed, but I had it resized 2 days later. It would have been a disappointment if I couldn''t get it on over my knuckles, because we went out to celebrate after he proposed. Good luck!

 

[Fly Girl]

I was sort of wondering how you were handling this. Ask her what her ring size is. If my hubby did that, I would never in a million years think that he had just ordered me a whole new wedding set off the internet. And, you aren't giving them to her for four months anyhow.

How often does she clean her rings? Any chance you could take her rings in for cleaning and inspection for her?

Or perhaps, you guys could be shopping at the mall and she could drop in to get them cleaned and you could ask them to be checked for size at the same time. You could ask her to go to the jewelry store because you are thinking of getting a necklace for her and want to see what styles she likes. Or some sort of ruse.

To keep it a total secret you will have to pick a size and have them resized after you present them to her.

ETA--By the way, I wear the exact same ring sizes on both hands. I thought that was totally normal, until I read some of the threads about this here on PS.

 

[Diamond*Dana]

Hmmm...if she ever takes her rings off and leaves them unattended for some time (like when she is sleeping, showering, cleaning), maybe you could measure the inner circumference? I am right handed and I wear a 6 on my right and a 5-5.5 on my left.

 

[Circe]

Pamplemousse is completely correct ... I''m 5''4", 130 lbs, and I wear a 5.5. One of my best friend is 5''9", and a little more generously proportioned, and she wears a 4. You really can''t tell - it''s not like what they say about men with big feet.*

I think the suggestions of gently tricking the information out of your wife are your best bet ... or, alternately, since I seem to remember that you have big plans from another thread, why not ask her best friend to do it in the guise of trying on one another''s rings, shopping, etc.? This way, you''ll be like Caesar''s wife, completely above suspicion.**

*Circe, what do they say about men with big feet? Why, that they wear big shoes! So, okay, maybe it is a little like that, as ladies with smaller hands wear smaller rings ... with no relation whatsoever to other portions of their anatomy.

** Yeah, I don''t know where the weird analogies are coming from, either: it''s been a long day.

 

[heather318]

While everyone has made good points about if she is right handed that her right hand will be bigger, that''s not completely true.. I''m left handed and my left hand is 1/4 size smaller..

I vote that you ask her.. If she would get too suspicious, you could try asking her mom or a friend.. Get the friend to bring up a random conversation about ring sizes.

 

[door knob solitaire]

There is a fun thread somewhere giving suggestions on how to come up with the size. I don''t recall all the great ideas contained within it, but many were most creative.

This entry is long and lengthy....but I just wanted to script it in case any of this would work for you:

My coworker BOB is going to propose to Susy and Bob asked us fellas to ask our wife''s how to figure out her ring size. He thought one size fits all. You know Bob. One guy said well, you could get a ring of Suzy''s and try in on one of your manly fingers for fun (and joke with Suzy wow look how tiny your fingers are next to mine)...and see where it stops...and then go into a jeweler and size that stopping point. Honey, do you think that would work for Bob? Let me see your ring where would it stop on my finger?

Honey what size are you? You look about Suzy''s size. Yadda Yadda Yadda... I have really never noticed how tiny your fingers are...what size do you wear? Are women''s fingers pretty close to the same? What should I tell Bob?

Or Bob said Susy wears a size 6 on her other hand ring finger she wears this sterling silver butterfly ring. Should Bob just get a size 6...how far off can one hand be from the other? Botta Bing...she will have to answer that!

Or I would stop at the gumball machine and get her a new adjustable ring just for fun. See if you can gleam any info out of that exercise. You can always ask a mother or a sister...mine knows my sizes. Good luck!

 

[DUTCHSWAN0311]

Yea, I wear size 8 shoe (I am 5''9"), but then so does my brother (also 5''9"), and my dad (who is 6'')...I can tell you the size of a man''s shoe has nothing to do with....well we can leave it at that

I figured out how to find out her ring size without raising her suspicions. Right now I am basically a stay at home dad (4 month old and 3 year old) because I was laid off 6 months ago (hard to find another job with same pay these days, though I think my search will be over in a couple of weeks based on a good lead I have).

ANYWAY...when my wife got home from work today, I told her Dimitri (my 3 year old son) got into her jewelry box today and was running around with that Alexandrite solitaire I mentioned in my original post. I told her not to worry, that I gave my son a "time out" and that everything was back where it was supposed to be. This allowed me to segway into why she never wears the Alexandrite solitaire. She says she loves that ring, but that it is too big and she is afraid of losing it when she wears it. I told her I thought it was because she didn''t like the ring, but she assured me that was not the case. I said, "...so If I got it resized, you would wear it?" She said absolutely!

This then allowed me to segway into whether or not her current wedding ring fits properly. She said it fits like a glove, so I asked her if I could borrow it so that I could take it in with the Alexandrite ring to get it resized so that it will also fit like a glove. I told her it would be her Valentines present. She loved the idea and promptly gave me her wedding ring. So, tomorrow I will go back to the mall (with kids :\ and find out what size "fits like a glove".

Stay tuned...I will report back tomorrow!

 

[Circe]

Well played, sir!

 

[door knob solitaire]

Dang you are good. Fast on your feet. Good job!

Now get that son of yours an icecream...because he took the fall for you. She thinks he was bad, and all along it was you that deserves the time out.

 

[DUTCHSWAN0311]

I had to think outside of the box on this one. Not all women are created equal, and many of the suggestions would not have worked, as my wife is VERY intelligent, and EXTREMELY intuitive. Fortunately, I am (I believe) just a smidgen smarter and can sometimes beat her at these games. (She always says I could never die of modesty!)

A little background now so that you can understand the rest of my post:

My wife is originally from Russia, and the first time we went there, many years ago, her grandmother gave her 4 loose Alexandrite stones that she got decades ago when she worked in Kazakhstan during the Soviet era. We believe them to be natural Alexandrite (as opposed to the ''synthetic'' Alexandrite ring mentioned above, which is pretty much all you see in stores today). They are probably about a carat each, and have been sitting in her jewelry chest collecting dust. Synthetic Alexandrite is fairly inexpensive, whereas natural Alexandrite is fairly rare (so I remember researching years back) and is quite expensive. I don''t know which category these stones fall into, but the process of growing synthetic Alexandrite WAS created in Russia, so I am not going to get my hopes up.

So during this process of a back story for discovering her ring size, I now got the idea to have those 4 loose stones turned into earrings (2 stones per earring) as a Valentines day present. If the stones end up being natural, She could have a $30,000 valentines day present, if they are synthetic, then probably about a $1,000? present.

Awe, I just love finding ways to spend more money :\

 

[Circe]

Ooo, alexandrite ... I love alexandrite.

Now, most "synthetic alexandrites" are actually synthetic color change corundum ... an easy way to figure out which you have (well, aside from taking a loupe and checking for unnatural perfection) is to simply take them into the light, as it were: alexandrite changes from red to green. The range can vary from true red to true green (which, in the sizes you''re talking about, actually takes you well above $30 K), to a lovely rasberry red shading into green with a hint of brown. Color change sapphire, on the other hand, goes from something closer to magenta with violet undertones into a blue-green that''s *heavy* on the blue. You should take it to a licensed gemologist to be sure, but you might (ahem), post shots on the Colored Stones board in the meantime ....

 

[waterlilly]

Go buy her a silver ring from Walmart at the size you think she wears as a "gift" - valentines day? Tell her " i wasn''t sure what your ring size is!" then you can get in a conversation about sizes...maybe buy it too small on purpose so she has to try it on all her fingers - so you get a better idea?

 

[Fly Girl]

Date: 2/7/2008 1:53:26 AM
Author: DUTCHSWAN0311
I had to think outside of the box on this one. Not all women are created equal, and many of the suggestions would not have worked, as my wife is VERY intelligent, and EXTREMELY intuitive. Fortunately, I am (I believe) just a smidgen smarter and can sometimes beat her at these games. (She always says I could never die of modesty!)

Excellent job! Resizing her other ring is the perfect ruse. She won''t have a clue there is anything more going on...

 

[DUTCHSWAN0311]

Well, I took her current wedding ring to the mall this morning (which fits her perfectly), and its official:

My wife''s official ring size is: 5-3/4|Justatunder6butcloserto6than5-3/4|6|6|6|Rightat6-1/4!!!!!!!!!!

You know if I did my job as accurately as these jewelery store salespeople I would never be able to hold job longer than 10 minutes! I was always told close only counts in Horse Shoes and Hand Grenades (and I suppose we can add WMDs to the contemporary list)...but apparently at the mall close counts in jewelry as well.

Helzberg: 5 3/4
JC Penny: Slightly under 6, but closer to 6 than 5 3/4
Greenberg: 6
Kay''s: 6
Younkers: 6
Joseph''s: 6 1/4 (snorted cocaine before I arrived?)

What I began to notice was that some where looking at the mark on their scale where the edge of the wedding set hit, and others were measuring based on where the middle of the set was on their measuring stick. Being a reasonably intelligent person, I would say measuring from the edge is a more accurate representation of ring size, and so I told WhiteFlash to go ahead and make it a 6. I would rather it be a 1/4 size too big than a 1/4 size too small so that she could actually where it when I give it to her in Mexico...though I suspect the 6 will fit perfectly.

 

[DUTCHSWAN0311]

New Ring.

 

[DUTCHSWAN0311]

Alexandrite ring.

 

[DUTCHSWAN0311]

Old ring.

 

[door knob solitaire]

I enjoyed your colorful play by play on the sizing front! Funny!!

I forgot to offer the thought...the width of the ring does make the fit different. If you were wearing a wide band that fit like a glove, it would be a different size than that of a thin band that fit like a glove.

I have a feeling that 6 is a great target for that particular NEW ring as it is A THIN NARROWER shank. If you were to take in a wider shank to use as a template, I would tell you to go less liberal in the new ring.

If you are still indecisive, you can get a paper ring sizer and place it on her finger or within the ring itself. This is a piece of paper that has increments on it like a yard stick.

Can you tell us IS THE OLD RING what you took in for sizing? If so is the bottom of the shank much wider than the new ring? It appears to be much wider...we can't see the bottom of the shank...the part that is under your finger. That old ring is what board...4 mm wide?

 

[DUTCHSWAN0311]

The old ring (seen above) is a little narrower on the bottom than it is on the top/sides, but not by much (-1mm?). I suspect the new ring will be at least 1/2 as narrow if not more than the old ring.

 

[designchica]

I agree with those who say height and weight have little to do with it. I am the exact height/weight of your girlfriend and I am a size 7-1/2 which was shocking to me. That seemed really big for what looks like really thin fingers!!