How are rings sized?
This depends on whether they’re going up or down and whether it’s been sized before (has a soldering seam) and what metal or stones it may contain. If the ring is going up only a small amount (maybe between 1/8 and ) size, the ring can be placed on a solid metal mandrel (a metal ‘stick’) and with a special hammer, be ‘tapped up’. If the ring requires a larger size, it is cut at the bottom with a very fine saw. A piece of metal (the same as the ring) is welded into place and filed to conform and polished. The advantage to welding is that it creates NO solder seam to break or weaken. Most jewelers don’t weld, they solder the piece into place beause it’s easier and less expensive for the jeweler. The problem with this is, if the ring flexes or bends on the solder joint, it may break. Whenever we can, we weld creating a continous ring. The same process applies to rings that are being sized down (though they can’t be ‘tapped down’), a piece is removed and welded. In the case of straight ban
