So you’ve had your wedding band for a few years. It used to fit perfectly. Now, things have changed and the ring does not seem to fit as well as it used to. Maybe your ring “shrunk”. The usual reasons for a ring size change are weight gain or loss, age, injury and even pregnancy. Whatever the reason for a new change in ring size, it is important to adjust your ring to match your new size. If the ring is now too tight, it could cut off circulation and cause discomfort. If too loose, it can be lost very easily without you even realizing it is gone. Before getting the ring resized, it is important to understand some facts about ring resizing as there are some limitations as to what can be redone.
The easiest (and best candidates) for resizing are “plain bands”, bands made of metal only with no settings. If the rings are made of softer, precious metals, like gold, platinum, or silver, it is much simpler to resize the ring. Resizing simply means that the ring is adjusted to change the size, either through stretching to make it larger or compressing it to make it smaller. It is usually not recommended to resize if you are resizing more than two whole sizes.
Some jewelers will recommend cutting the band and re-soldering it back together. If your jeweler recommends this route, it probably means they lack the skill or the equipment necessary to perform a proper resizing. If the band is cut, it will very likely leave a mark or sign of sorts that the ring was cut. This route is only recommended if there is a substantial change in size. A skilled jeweler can resize the ring one or two whole sizes without any visible signs of alteration.
However, not all “plain bands” are plain. Some are plain in design as well as not having any stones. However, some stone-less rings may have designs, such as carved patterns. If this is the case, many jewelers will not resize your ring and tell you resizing cannot be done as resizing may distort the design or pattern. But, a skilled jeweler can achieve a resizing, usually up to one size difference, with no visible sign of any work having been done.
If your ring contains stone settings, it will require even more skill to resize as this becomes more difficult. Usually, a half size change is easily achievable. Anything more than half a size is dependent on the style of your ring. If you have many stones, such as eternity bands which usually have stones all around the ring to the point where you see more stones than metal, it may not be worth the cost to resize. The reason being that it will be very expensive as it will require resetting of the every stone, which may not yield a desired aesthetic result.
Yet another issue arises from rings of the more modern, alternative nature, such as tungsten carbide. While tungsten carbide looks amazing and is extremely durable, its hardness makes it impossible to resize. For rings made of harder metals, it is imperative that you purchase from retailer that offers a lifetime resizing guarantee. If your ring size changes, you can simply return your old ring and you will receive a new one, in the same exact style, if still available, at no additional or very minimal cost. In buying tungsten rings, especially since it is a newer, more trendy metal, many people may not know that they cannot be resized. It is important to make sure you have this guarantee if you do go the alternative route and choose a tungsten carbide ring.
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