This lovely client first visited my shop several years ago and we’ve become fast friends ever since. She is a gregarious person – outing and vivacious – who happily pops into the shop every now and then for a visit. On her latest drop-in I noticed that she was not wearing her wedding ring, an eternity style channel band. I asked why and she said that it was such a struggle to get it off the night prior that she was nearly certain it had shrunk! I encouraged her to bring it in so we could have a look. She wasn’t kidding – the size difference was considerable. I’m amazed that she got it off at all. Eternity bands, generally speaking, cannot be sized up because the stones go all the way around the finger. But once in a while, if the band is heavy enough and the size needed is less than a half size up, it may be possible to ream out the inside of the band to size it. In this scenario, as long as the client agrees and doesn’t mind a blank spot, you can size up by cutting and putting a piece in. Again, the band has to be heavy enough and the size up can be no more than one half size. Unfortunately, that was not the case with this band. They have been married over 35 years so this particular band had some wear on it and understandably so. But we found a solution, regardless. I cut the band in half and created a double channel wedding band by adding enough shank to accommodate the new size. My friend/client agreed that this was a great fix for a ring that “shrunk!”
- Materials: 14k white gold with natural diamonds
- Client location: Weatogue, CT
