How do I get the right size of wedding ring as a surprise for my fiancee?
I’ll add one more thing to all the good tips above: you don’t have to have a ring in-hand to propose. I say this based on experience. Honestly, the words are what matter not the ring. There are distinct advantages as well. You can then both head to the jeweler to pick the ring she’s been dreaming about. My proposal (a surprise to us both!) was no less significant for lack of a ring. Hell, I was so poor I couldn’t afford one anyway. After twenty-eight years I’d say it worked out.
I’m pretty sure she doesn’t currently have any rings I can measure. She wears necklaces and earrings but no rings… I had this problem, exactly. What I did was find a really good jeweler (not a mall store, but the kind of place where they design and make their own jewelry on the premises) and talked with them. I looked at all the hands of the people who worked there, and found the hand that was closest to my partner’s in size. That gave a starting size, and I think they suggested going a tiny bit larger in case the estimation was wrong, but I don’t remember exactly. As it happened, the size was perfect, but an adjustment would have been trivial for them to do. And my impression was that the jewelers saw this issue every day, and were really skilled at translating “uh, maybe a bit smaller than a hot dog” into realistic ring sizing. If your girlfriend and her sister have similar-sized hands, then go shopping with the sister and use her hands as a starting point for sizing, or even just
My now-wife lived at the time on the other side of the Atlantic, so I made a guesstimate with the jeweller (you could nab a ring of hers and take a picture of it next to something of defined size like a coin, this will help), then went back after we got engaged and had it resized. Most quality jewellers will do this for free.
I noted once that my pinky was the same size as her ring finger. So when I went to get an engagement ring, that’s what we went by. The sales guy very subtly asked if I was sure. Sadly, he was too subtle. I got a ring that was way too big. I proposed to her in a different state and she got it resized by this great Russian jeweler who noted to me, she’s 5.5 you dummy. Don’t ever forget it. I haven’t.
Just adding to the chorus that says err on the side of bigness. I have big workman’s hands and can’t wear “standard” sized rings or bracelets, and there are few things more frustrating than getting a beautiful sparkly thing and NOT BEING ABLE TO TRY IT ON. If you are unsure about her taste, a lot of jewelers will set a stone in a “temporary” setting and then give you full credit towards another setting that you then come in and pick out together later. People can be very particular about jewelry, especially jewelry that you wear every day. Also, since you mention not wanting to spend the money for the “traditional” bigass diamond, I will mention that my engagement ring is a lab-created blue sapphire, which was like a tenth the price of a diamond of equal prettiness and is in fact both unusual and gorgeous and I love it with all my heart. But before he could save up for that one, he proposed with a $20 silver craft fair Celtic knot ring, and I love that one too and still wear it sometim
