How to get her ring size...

[Ade]

We went out and picked one together - or I should say, my wife picked hers herself.

Good thing too as it's unlikely that I would have chosen one so diminutive and she has little hands so I guess a bigger one would have borne more resemblance to a carbuncle.

Yarm, I think she would appreciate the opportunity to choose herself especially as there's no tradition there of a man coming along and imposing an ugly ring his ring of choice on his prospective bride.

[Doll]

Haha- J. only said that I probably knew about "3 salaries" rule "but he is not crazy, so...."
He set the limit (that was ok with me).
Out of all the rings I've got since then that one is my favorite (bought in Moscow).
Yes, it is a diamond ring 

[Faux Pas]

I guess Google is pretty smart.  The google ad I see at the bottom of the page is for a free "Find her ring size offer"

I have to agree with I/O that engagement rings are not part of the Russian culture.

I will through out one other thing.  You might make her happier by letting her pick out her own ring.  My wife is probably a little more particular than the average gal but she does have very strong likes and dislikes.  What she likes for a ring is very different than what I would have picked and in our case she picked out her own ring.  She is much happier with it than had I picked it out and actually the ring she liked was not as expensive as what I would have picked. 

Turbo, you are a legend around these parts and I think you're aware of that but, this is another place you and I differ. My pick out and buy my wife jewelry from time to time and while my sense of taste and fashion are seriously lacking, she loves everything I buy her. I suspect just "because" I bought it but, thats just another reason I love her 

[GQBlues]

I'm elated that Yarm seem to be a good sport...

As for ring buying...I think Aloe can give you very good opinion on who should pick the ring for this occassion.... 

[JR]

My girlfriend whom I've been with for a little over 1.5 years let me know in our last meeting over Christmas/New Year, that she's expecting me to propose and after I came back home and gave it some thought, I decided to go ahead with it and propose when we will be together again in 2-3 months.

I've started looking at rings, but I realized I have no idea what size to get. I know they can be resized and all, but this would be somewhat inconvenient, because we're meeting in a 3rd country, and I don't want to take the ring back with me to get it resized, right after I've given it to her, or tell her "go get it resized when you're back home".

I speak Russian, so I've thought about emailing or calling her mother, or maybe one of her friends to ask for their help, to see if they can find out her ring size for me, but I don't know if I can trust them to keep a secret... I don't want to spoil the surprise.

Anyone have any ideas?

She told you she expect it, where's the surprise? Just ask her and enjoy the process.

[Doll]

On one hand, it is very romantic to kneel  and propose, on the other hand, she has to wear the ring for a long time and better love it.
My husband is not romantic 

[Doll]

She told you she expect it, where's the surprise? Just ask her and enjoy the process.

It does not have to be a surprise, RW are aware of this tradition.

[Maxx2]

Turbo, you are a legend around these parts

Second only to me in giving good innovating marital advice. Ask Doll or GQ.

Get her drunk on peva (beer) or vodka and then when she is in a deep sleep use one of these. That is what I did.



They cost only $10.99 at any jewelry supply house.

Congratulations on your engagement!


Maxx

[Maxx2]

Joke  ^    :evil:

[Daveman]

Joke  ^    :evil:

Joke??? LoL.. that's a GREAT idea!  :evil:  :evil:

I like the way you think Maxx...kinda goes right along with my proposal method -- tranquilizer dart in the butt followed by helicopter/animal harness extraction... man, all those hours watching Discovery have brought new insight into the dating game!

[mies]

She's about 5"6-5"7, 110 and has long lean fingers. I have no idea what ring size to estimate with that information though...

I'm 5'8", 109lbs (just checked & corrected), ring size is 4.5 (actually between the 4 and 4.5).
It's better to ask her relatives, her mom would probably know what ring size the girl wears.

As for resizing - i've heard that it is not recommended to re-size the ring with stones/inlays because:
a) for some stones the temperature can be damaging (may be not an issue for a diamond, but is an issue for sapphires and some other precious stones)
b) changes in a temperature will make the stone fixation lose.
overall, in many cases resizing reduces the original quality of the ring.

[SANDRO43]

As for resizing - i've heard that it is not recommended to re-size the ring with stones/inlays

Among other considerations, that operation should be performed only by a trusted jeweller - one might find out later that the original stone was replaced with a cheaper one .

[Shadow]

The most interesting thing with shringking is that when enlargin a price is charged for the gold, but when shrinking nothing is returned... 

[Maxx2]

The most interesting thing with shringking is that when enlargin a price is charged for the gold, but when shrinking nothing is returned...  

I have been in the biz related to this for years.

Downsizing can affect the crown area where the stones are and would have the potential to loosing them. However the prongs that hold the stones can be adjusted to prevent this. There is a lot of cheaper made jewelry (usually made in China or India) that fall apart when stretched inward. It then takes more work (money) to fix this than what the ring is worth. This is especially true of rings with many many stones. In the days past it was too costly to employ an experienced stone setter to set so many stones and yet have a ring that is affordable. Now they have stone setter making 35 cents an hour working 14 hours a day in China. Of course what this has led to 'throw away' jewelry when it starts falling apart. Something thrown into a drawer and forgotten about until "Cash 4 Gold" flashes across the TV screen. Then the stones (except for the expensive ones which are collected out) are reduced to smoky carbon bits in the refiner's crucible.

Upsizing requires sizing stock which is a part of a ring shank made specifically for this. I know a jewelry supply company that told me that 80% of the sizing stock they sold years past was 10 Karat (41.66% pure gold). What is revealing about this is is that 80% of the rings sold used to be 14 Karat (58.33% pure gold). The high price of gold is making the less expensive 10 Kt become more popular now but there is a lot of 14 karat rings stamped 14 Kt at the upper portion of the shank (which usually doesn't get replaced) that is made up of cheaper 10 Karat gold. Also some jewelers have been known to steal valuable stones but this is a rarity.