How is a ring sized?
The basic procedure for ring sizing involves the cutting of the bottom of the shank with a fine saw blade, followed by the adding or removing of matching metal to enlarge or decrease the size of the ring. After being enlarged or reduced, the shank is fused back together using the appropriate solder (i.e., gold, silver, platinum). Precious metal solders are formulated to melt at a temperature slightly lower than that, which the article of jewelry will melt, so that the solder can effectively fuse without the danger of melting the shank. For the purposes of this discussion we will refer to gold only. Enlarging a ring size involves the spreading of the shank to accommodate a piece of gold that is the fused permanently by applying the heat from a torch to fuse the solder with the ring shank and added gold. Reducing the ring involves cutting away the appropriate amount of gold, then bending the shank inward to create enough tension to hold a piece of gold solder. When the solder is properly
