If you have a beautiful ring that’s too large or small you’ll have one big question on your mind.
Does resizing a ring damage it? If your ring doesn’t fit it doesn’t leave you with much of a choice.
Luckily I think you’ll be okay even though you need to be very careful with how you proceed.
Does Resizing A Ring Damage It?
You can resize a ring without damaging it. You’ll need to take it to a professional jeweler to ensure it’s done properly, but it’s worth the money. If you do resize your ring it’s never going to be perfect and some big things can still go wrong.
How much does resizing a ring ruin it?
The good news is nobody will be able to tell you’ve had your ring resized if it’s done properly. But your band will be cut and soldered back together.
Even though it won’t technically last as long as a brand new ring that’s never been resized it might last you the rest of your life.
Here are some of the most common ways resizing a ring damages it:
- Resizing leaves a weak spot
- Alignment issues during resizing
- Resized too many times
- Damaging delicate gemstones
- Ruining your engravings
- Cleaning and polishing ring
- Resizing a ring at home
1 Resizing leaves a weak spot
It’s better to size a ring up vs down because you don’t always have to cut into the ring to make it smaller. It’s possible to resize the ring using sizing beads.
If you have a choice between traditional resizing vs sizing beads choose the latter whenever possible. Adding beads to a ring isn’t going to hurt the structural integrity.
How to resize a ring smaller and larger
When you resize a ring smaller you have to cut a piece of metal out of your ring band. Once the metal is cut out the jeweler will solder it back together.
Resizing a ring larger involves cutting the ring band in the same place and adding a piece of metal into it before soldering everything back together again.
Does resizing a ring leave it weaker?
Once a ring is soldered back together, it leaves a weak spot at the point where it was soldered. It’s never going to be 100% solid again.
If you end up applying too much pressure to the soldered spot in the future it could break. You just have to hope the jeweler does a good job.
Ask the jeweler if they use a laser machine because it causes less damage. Sometimes you have to use a laser if you’re resizing metals like platinum.
2 Alignment issues during resizing
It’s possible to have alignment issues with the band during the resizing process, but it’s more likely the setting will suffer from alignment issues.
Resizing a ring will devalue it once the setting is damaged. Once the heat touches your ring setting it could compress or flare out.
Either one is going to result in one of two things:
- Gemstones will be misaligned
- You’ll lose the gemstones
Does resizing a ring make diamonds fall out? Worst case scenario is all your gemstones falling out because they’re not being held in properly.
A jeweler can usually spot this before they give you the ring back, but it’s better to check before you leave the jewelry store just in case.
The best-case scenario is your ring not looking as beautiful when you stare at the setting. It’s unlikely anyone will notice but you’ll still know it’s damaged.
3 Resized too many times
Jewelers will always tell you it’s only possible to resize a ring twice during its lifetime. If it’s resized more than two times it’s going to be compromised.
It’s not a problem if you bought the ring brand new because you’ll know it’s never been resized before. If you were gifted the ring it’s not as easy to tell.
If you were gifted a ring add sizing beads instead of getting it resized smaller just in case. Find out why your ring suddenly feels tight before you get it resized larger.
4 Damaging delicate gemstones
Jewelers should take out all your gemstones before they attempt to resize your ring. Once the ring has been resized the gemstones can be reset.
When a ring band is being soldered lots of heat will be applied to the spot where it’s happening. Lasers use more heat to resize metals with a higher melting point.
Some metals conduct heat better than others and some gemstones are more delicate than others. If heat reaches delicate gemstones they’re going to be damaged.
A good jeweler will prevent this from happening by demounting the gemstones first, so if they look damaged once your ring is resized you’ll know why.
5 Ruining your engravings
Your ring may look different after resizing because it’s got engravings in it. Sometimes people get special messages on the inside of their rings.
Rings can also have hallmarks like names, numbers, and symbols inside that give you specific details about the ring that could come in handy later on.
Engravings can be damaged during the cut or when it’s soldered. It depends where the jeweler cuts the band.
A jeweler is going to do everything in their power to ensure nothing looks different when the ring is resized, but it’s not always going to be possible.
Jewelry is a pretty bad investment if your hallmarks are damaged and you can’t prove you have a fancy designer ring.
6 Cleaning and polishing ring
During the process of resizing a ring, the jeweler will have to clean and polish the ring to make it look like it’s never been touched before.
But does resizing a ring leave a mark? To be honest, it depends on how good the jeweler is when it comes to cleaning and polishing.
If it’s done properly nobody will be able to tell even if they look closely. It can look slightly damaged when it’s done poorly.
7 Resizing a ring at home
You might be thinking about resizing your ring at home to save money. Can I resize a ring at home? How much is it going to cost me?
If these questions are running through your mind stop thinking about them now. It’s going to cost you more money in the long run because you’ll ruin your ring.
The only way you’ll be able to resize a ring at home is by stretching the ring, which is going to cause more damage than cutting it. Stretching metal ruins its structural integrity.
If you have a setting with gemstones it’s going to cause even more damage. Don’t bother resizing a ring at home unless it’s cheap and you don’t care about it.
How can I resize my ring without cutting it?
The biggest problem you’ll face when resizing your ring is cutting into it. You might be wondering if it’s possible to resize the ring without cutting the band.
Fortunately, there are some ways to resize your ring without cutting or stretching. It depends on the metal and whether you’re going up or down in size.
If you want to make your ring smaller stick to sizing beads as a long-term option, plus there are a few temporary solutions like ring adjusters.
If you have a ring made from metal like titanium it’s possible to shave the inside of your band. But you can only go a half size up and the band must be thick enough to begin with.
Types of rings you can resize without damage
Silver, gold, and platinum rings can be resized easily by a jeweler without causing damage. A jeweler will need enough metal to work with.
It’s a lot trickier to resize a ring when the band is very thin because it’s extremely fragile. Here are a few rings some people will tell you can’t be resized:
- Rose gold rings
- Titanium rings
- Tungsten rings
- Eternity bands
- Non-metal rings
You will hear people say rose gold rings crack when you resize them. It’s possible to resize yellow, white, and rose gold rings without causing damage.
Rose gold is more fragile when it comes to the resizing process, so you will need to make sure you’re using a competent jeweler. You’ll be able to resize titanium too.
Tungsten rings can’t be resized without damage because the metal is too strong. You can still resize strong metals like stainless steel.
Eternity bands go all the way around so you can’t resize them larger without damaging the ring. It’s impossible to cut into the band, but you can add sizing beads to it.
And it’s impossible to resize wooden or ceramic rings without breaking them. You can’t resize rings that aren’t made from metal unless you’re using a DIY solution.
For example, you could technically reduce the size of a ceramic ring by adding glue to the inside of the band. But it can’t be cut and soldered like metal rings.
Does Resizing A Ring Damage It?
Resizing a ring won’t cause lots of damage unless it’s done incorrectly. Just go to a good jeweler with experience and you should be okay.
If your ring doesn’t fit you’ll have to get it resized or you won’t be able to wear it. It’s worth trying very hard to get the right ring size in the first place.