Picture this: you’ve found your perfect piece and are ready to take it home...then you realise that it’s not your size. Finding a great fit through ring destiny is amazing, but the stars don’t always align for your perfect piece. Never fear, antique and vintage rings can be resized amazingly by an experienced bench jeweller!
Here’s our take on the top five myths about ring resizing that we hear about:
- Ring resizing is expensive: Not going to lie, we’ve looked around and some jewellers will charge you a pretty penny for resizing, especially with the rising cost of gold! We offer affordable rates for resizing and all resizing work is done by our jeweller who has 40+ years at the bench. Resizing down is a flat rate of $50 AUD and sizing up is cost of labour plus gold (varies per piece). Think about it this way - money spent on resizing is an investment in your piece. You’re always adding value in terms of wearability, and if you’re sizing up, you’re adding gold value too!
- Antique and vintage pieces shouldn’t be resized because it means losing hallmarks and patina: Resizing can be done in a way so that hallmarks are retained. Our jeweller has done hundreds of resizes for us and has never cut off a hallmark, honest! Minimal polish can be done to blend in the resize and patina will start to form after you start wearing it.
- Resizing up involves ‘stretching’ the gold, making the band thinner/weaker: This is not a technique that would be used by a reputable bench jeweller. Resizing up involves adding extra gold to the band to achieve the larger size. Not only will your ring fit perfectly, it’ll also be slightly heavier because of the extra gold, nice!
- Antique and vintage rings shouldn’t be resized because it affects their authenticity: This one’s a matter of opinion, but the reality is that most rings have already been resized once (or in some cases many times) over the course of their lives. There’s no right or wrong answer, but rings are made to be worn and enjoyed and finding the perfect piece in your exact size may be tricky!
- Resizing always leaves an obvious line: While this may be true of some jewellers, our jeweller specialises in seamless resizes and many of our customers have said that they can’t tell where it was resized!
In the hands of a skilled bench jeweller, resizing antique and vintage jewellery can be done in a way that preserves hallmarks and patina and also allows you to wear and enjoy your favourite piece. When done right, it adds to the value and wearability of the piece and ensures that it spends more time on your finger and less time in your jewellery box.