ARE RING SIZERS ACCURATE?

Ring sizers are cute, little jeweler’s tools, designed to accurately gauge a customer’s finger.

They are supposed to work flawlessly.

But do they?

Are those little rings of plastic and metal (nickel plated) able to accurately predict a proper ring size?

Let’s find out…

I do believe that ring sizers are accurate… almost!

But you see, there are many things that can affect and hinder getting a correct ring size.

Things like:

• The width of the ring
• Is it comfort fit?
• Does the ring taper?
• Is it hollowed out?
• Is it top heavy?

And then you have other contributing factors:

• The customer’s knuckles
• Are their fingers indented (from wearing a previous ring)
• Are their fingers bloated (water/salt retention?)

Depending on what time of day you get your fingers sized could also be a huge factor. Our bodies can sway up or down a pound or two in just 24 hours. Your fingers do the same. Ever notice how one day your rings fit snuggly and the next they are practically slipping off? A lot of things can throw off getting a perfect fit.

Many outside influences can make a ring size inaccurate.

Plus, what ring sizers tell you, may not mean squat…

Ring sizers are only meant as an aid to help you determine the right size. Not to be facts written in stone.

That’s where the jeweler comes into play.

The jeweler’s opinion weighs heavily on sizings.

Jewelers can look at your fingers, feel them (jewelers get a better idea of how a ring should fit on your finger by actually feeling the skin and bones… Feeling the pudginess of your finger), and see what size you are close to. That helps them make a more educated guess.

Ring sizers by themselves will only get you so far.

Plastic sizers:

A lot of ring sizers are made out of plastic (like these pairs of plastic sizers here to save money), and they just don’t make the cut. Plastic ring sizers feel too odd and too lightweight on the finger. Metal ring sizers work better, because, well, you’re buying a metal ring, not a plastic one.

Ring sizers come in different shapes and sizes.

3 of the most common sizers are:

Thin metal ring sizers (like these metal sizers here). They are usually around 2mm wide and they work great for determining thinner rings (like engagement solitaire rings).

Wider metal ring sizers (usually around 4 or 5mm wide, like these wide ring sizers here) work great for wider rings, wedding bands and rings of some bulk or thickness (also used for class rings and men’s rings).

And then you have the comfort fit sizing rings (like these ring sizers here). They are usually plastic or metal and have curved edges and domes to mimic a comfort fit band (before comfort fit sizers came out, jewelers had to use the wider ring sizers and add 1/2 size to them in order to get a good fit).

Ring sizers sizes:

Most ring sizers come in full and half sizes (like 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5…) But they also make sizers in quarter sizes (6. 6.25, 6.5, 6.75, 7…) also which are great and more practical for getting those in between sizes.

Do note that most sizers only go from sizes 4-12 (on average). So if you have little, bony fingers or fat, pudgy digits, you may not be able to get sized properly. Then it just ends up a guessing game. Hopefully the jeweler has ring sizers that go from 1-15. They work so much better.

They don’t work well with…

Ring sizers work perfect unless you’re dealing with rings that have open basket heads, tapered shanks, hollowed out insides or really wide rings (like 15mm wide). Those rings make it so much more difficult to get the proper size.

Plus some rings are designed with long flat channels on top of the rings, which makes sizing them a bear. These rings can’t be sized in a perfectly round circle without ruining the channel… They have to be sized more oval in shape. See what I mean? Sometimes it’s not so easy.

With ring sizers there will be errors.

Sometimes you have to size a ring twice in order to get the fit right. Fingers can change drastically in a week or two. You just never know.

The worst thing a jeweler can do:

The worst thing that a jeweler can do is to let the customer figure out their own ring size.

I’ve seen salespeople just hand over the sizers to the customers to have them figure out what size they need.

WRONG!

Don’t do it! It won’t be accurate and in many cases it will be off by whole sizes. Customers don’t know how ring sizers are supposed to fit or feel.

What are the jewelers thinking?

The most accurate way to size a finger:

The best and most accurate way to size a person’s finger is to have them hold their hand out level and relax their fingers.

Then it’s up to the jeweler (salesperson) to put the ring sizers on their finger one at a time until they find the one that fits.

The sizer should fit snugly over the knuckle, but perfect on the finger. Having the customer relax and letting the salesperson do the work (no yanking or tugging) will give you better results and more accurate sizings (jewelers will actually save money doing this, because they won’t have the cost of re-sizing a ring, and the customer won’t get mad either at having to come back repeatedly).

So are ring sizers accurate?

You bet they are; if you know what you’re doing.

If not… The customer is going to be standing there, jingling around 15 metal rings, trying to read the small printed numbers (that are always worn off), saying

“Is this the right size?“

See more ring size gauges here.

Cheers! :)