The Sorcery of Ring Resizing

I want to clear up the myth that ring resizing is sorcery or witchcraft. 

My time working at a jewelry repair shop was a fantastic experience. Going into that job I was excited to use a laser welder. This machine runs about $30,000 so there was no way I was buying one for my home studio.

This machine does seem magical. There are so many things it allowed me to do that just couldn’t have been done with a torch, or would have been much more laborious and time consuming without the welder.

As magical as the laser welder is and as skilled as I may be, I am, alas, a mere mortal. There were times when I’d get a ring, look it over, read what the customer wanted and wish I could wiggle my nose like Samantha or blink like Jeannie. 

Please know your jeweler’s limits. Appreciate his or her knowledge, experience and skills, but also appreciate that she is working with the laws of physics! Also appreciate that there may be numerous customers ahead of you. The shop may be empty when you stop by, but in the back, on the jeweler’s bench, there may be dozens of pieces waiting in the cue for repair or sizing.

I remember a man stopping on on a Saturday, gold band in hand, wanting the ring resized because he was getting married. He was getting married within a couple of hours! He seemed perplexed and a bit bothered that we had to turn him away. A plain band that is going down no more than a size might be something we’d try and let you jump to the front of the line. But this man needed it sized up. This entails a lot more time and having a piece of yellow gold that will fit the height and width of the band. He asked that we “just cut it” and it would expand.

As with most professions or crafts, we forget that everyone does not know this stuff! Ever since working in repairs, I’ve tried to do a better job at educating the consumer (that’s you!) on how jewelry is made, how it’s repaired and other odd little details about the jewelry making world that you wouldn’t know unless you lived in it.

Here are just a few things to keep in mind when you take in a ring to be resized:

1. Listen to the jeweler. Feel free to get a second opinion from another jeweler, but listen to what she’s telling you. 
2. Ask questions. After listening to your jeweler, ask questions. If something doesn’t make sense or you didn’t understand a term they used, ask about it. Basically, I’m telling you to communicate.
3. It’s “just” one size. People often think that if a ring is “only” being sized up or down one size, then it should be easy, quick or inexpensive. There are lots of factors involved in sizing, even just one size. 
4. There are other repairs ahead of you. The shop may be empty of customers, but that doesn’t mean that there are lots of repairs and resizings ahead of yours. Each repair or resize requires time and skill. Please understand that the jeweler may be swamped and can’t always bump you to the top of the line. (a little confession, occasionally when I was so overwhelmed by the more demanding jobs, I’d bump a ring size job up so I could take a break from the stress of a more difficult job.)
5. Stone settings make a difference! If you have a band of diamonds or even a solitaire, this impacts how the sizing will go. It may require resetting stones. It may mean a section of the band will no longer have diamonds. Again, this is the sort of thing you want to communicate about.

Hope this helped clear up some of the mystery of ring resizing.

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