Ring size

Find your ring size

Lay a ring on the screen, print the sheet, or send us a measurement. Whichever way you get there, it is the same number, and this page tells you honestly how close each way gets.

Four ways, one answer A sheet you can print One free resize in the first year

First question

Can you get hold of a ring that already fits that finger?

Yes, I can borrow one Measure the ring A ring is a finished object you can measure cold. This is the accurate route, and it takes about a minute. No, only the finger Measure the finger Workable, with a strip of paper and a ruler. Read the note on timing first, because it moves the answer more than people expect.

01 Set the scale

Hold a bank card flat against the screen and stretch the outline until the two edges line up. Any card: they are all the same size. Ignore the rounded corners.

85.60 × 53.98 mm

Nothing is measured against your screen until this matches.

Your US size —
US 3US 13.5
—UK —Europe —Around —Inside Set the scale first.

What this needs

  • A ring that already fits the right finger
  • Any bank or loyalty card, once, to set the scale
  • About half a minute

No ring to hand? Print the sheet further down, or switch to “I already have a measurement”.

Which of these to trust

Most accurate first
  1. 01

    A ring she wears, on the printed cone

    Roll the cone on page three of the sheet, slide the ring down it until it stops, read the line. Nothing is judged by eye: the ring physically stops. It is the same principle as the steel mandrel on a jeweller's bench.

    A printer, paper, a ring
  2. 02

    A ring she wears, measured across the inside

    Lay it flat and measure the inside, edge to edge, in millimetres. Callipers beat a ruler by a good margin here, because a ruler's zero is hard to place on a curve.

    A ring, a mm ruler
  3. 03

    A ring she wears, on the screen above

    As good as the scale you set. Take a minute over the card and it lands within about a quarter size. Rush the card and everything after it is wrong by the same proportion.

    A ring, a bank card
  4. 04

    Paper or string around the finger

    A starting point rather than a measurement. Paper slips, string stretches, and the same finger is a different size at eight in the morning and at nine at night. Use it if there is no ring to borrow, and measure three or four times.

    Paper and a ruler

All four are estimates. The only one we would call final is a jeweller putting a steel mandrel through the ring, and if there is one near you it costs nothing to ask.

Measuring a ring she already wears

Why this beats measuring a finger

A ring holds still

It is a finished object you can measure cold, on a table, twice. A finger is bigger in the evening, bigger in heat, smaller after cold water, and different on the left hand than the right. Borrow the ring if you can, even for ten minutes.

Check it is the right finger and the right hand. Most people's two hands differ by a quarter size or more, and a ring worn on the middle finger tells you nothing about the ring finger.

Check the band width too. If the ring you are measuring is a thin wedding band and the one you are ordering is 6mm across, the answer needs the adjustment in the notes below.

Measuring the finger

Paper, not string, if you have a choice
A hand with a strip of paper wrapped round the ring finger

Wrap a strip round the finger

A strip of paper, a length of tape, or a non-stretch cord like the one here. Never elastic, never sewing thread. Snug against the skin, not tight, round the base of the finger the ring will live on.

Marking the point where the two ends of the strip meet, with a pen

Mark where it meets

Mark the exact overlap. Then do it again twice more, at different times of day, and take the largest of the three.

The marked strip laid flat against a ruler to read the length in millimetres

Read it off a ruler

In millimetres. That length is the way around the finger. Put it in the panel above under “the way around my finger”.

The ring also has to pass the knuckle. If the knuckle is noticeably wider than the base, measure both and take a size between the two, closer to the knuckle.

The full chart

22 sizes
US Around the finger Inside diameter Europe UK & Australia
3 44.2 mm 14.1 mm 44 F½
3.5 45.5 mm 14.5 mm 46 G½
4 46.8 mm 14.9 mm 47 H½
4.5 48.0 mm 15.3 mm 48 I½
5 49.3 mm 15.7 mm 49 J½
5.5 50.6 mm 16.1 mm 51 K½
6 51.9 mm 16.5 mm 52 L½
6.5 53.1 mm 16.9 mm 53 M½
7 54.4 mm 17.3 mm 54 N½
7.5 55.7 mm 17.7 mm 56 O½
8 57.0 mm 18.1 mm 57 P½
8.5 58.3 mm 18.5 mm 58 Q½
9 59.5 mm 19.0 mm 60 R½
9.5 60.8 mm 19.4 mm 61 S½
10 62.1 mm 19.8 mm 62 T½
10.5 63.4 mm 20.2 mm 63 U½
11 64.6 mm 20.6 mm 65 V½
11.5 65.9 mm 21.0 mm 66 W½
12 67.2 mm 21.4 mm 67 X½
12.5 68.5 mm 21.8 mm 69 Z
13 69.7 mm 22.2 mm 70 Z+1
13.5 71.0 mm 22.6 mm 71 Z+2

A European size is the way around the finger in millimetres, rounded. It is not a separate scale to look up. Swipe the table sideways on a phone.

Four things that move the answer

Between two sizes, take the larger one. Every jeweller we can find agrees on that, and a ring that will not pass the knuckle is worse than one that turns a little.

Time of day

Fingers are smallest first thing and after cold water, largest in the evening and in heat. Measure warm, at the end of the day, and you will not end up with a ring that only fits in February.

Band width

A wide band feels tighter than a narrow one at the same size, because it sits on more of the finger. Over about 4mm, go up a quarter size. Over 6mm, go up a half.

The knuckle

The ring has to clear the knuckle and then sit at the base without spinning. If the two differ a lot, take the knuckle size and ask us to add beads inside the shank to stop the spin.

Eternity and full pavé

A band set the whole way round cannot be resized afterwards without rebuilding it. Those are worth measuring properly rather than estimating, or ordering a plain band first to test the size.

If it is a surprise

Borrow a ring she already wears on that finger and run it through the panel at the top of this page. Ten minutes while she is in the shower is enough, and it is the only method that does not involve asking her.

If she keeps her rings on, press one into a bar of soap and measure the ring the impression leaves. Failing that, ask the friend who would be told first anyway. A conversation that gives the game away is still cheaper than the wrong ring.

If none of that is possible, order a common size and plan on the resize. Rings get resized. It is an ordinary step, not a failure.

How to buy a ring without knowing her size goes through every method in order of how well it actually works.

If it does not fit

Getting it wrong is survivable. Here is exactly what is covered, so you are not guessing.

  • One free resize, once, within one year of buying it.
  • Up or down by as much as three quarter sizes. A half size is covered.
  • Some rings cannot be resized: a filigree band, a nature band, and any engraved band, including deep engraving. The pattern cannot be matched across the join, so the seam would show for the life of the ring.

Unsure whether a particular ring can be resized? Ask before you order and we will tell you plainly.

Still not sure? Send us the ring she wears and we will measure it.

Ask us