How to plan a surprise engagement – without knowing her ring size.
Having No Idea
Perhaps you have no idea on the perfect engagement ring style. Maybe you have no idea on how to discover the right finger size. Or maybe you just don’t want to order a very expensive ring without rock-solid certainty that you have chosen the correct style. Most people choosing a surprise engagement ring are uncertain on two counts, with two questions asked :
1. How do I choose a surprise engagement ring without knowing her finger size?
2. How do I know if I have chosen the correct ring style?
If we had the perfect solution for a surprise engagement ring, it’s unlikely the above questions would be so often asked. One thing we do try to offer for clients, is a work-around, or possible solutions. Depending on your personal circumstances, the following suggestions may or may not help.
Finger Size.
Our blog today is for those of you who have no idea of size. No help from friends. No insider information from family, and no current rings to covertly get measured. Ask yourself first if you’re ready to propose with a replica of the ring design you have chosen. We stock many showroom samples of website ring designs. Perfect, showroom samples in most of the ring styles across the website. We send out sample rings following payment of a refundable deposit, which refunds upon return or deducted from the cost of a later order. Most of the sample rings come in an average / mid-finger size.
Ring Style
If you are aiming to purchase the genuine item, and not a stand-in replica ring, make sure you choose a style suitable for re-sizing. Claw settings are best. Styles such as the four claw R1D001, or six claw designs (such as R1D001B) are just two examples of suitable styles. We can advise on many more. Once re-sized, the diamond needs re-securing, so claw settings are perfect for this, unlike tension style, and bezel settings. Both can open fractionally when a ring is down-sized making size adjustments beyond one size, very difficult. If you are choosing this route, we would suggest opting for a mid-size (M-N) as an average, later sized in either direction, larger or smaller. If you have chosen a particularly difficult ring style to size, and do not know the correct finger size, a stand-in ring or sample is the perfect solution to proposing with a particular ring design.
Steps for Arranging the Stand-In Ring
1. Choose a style or shortlist your preferred ring designs. Browse through the designs and select the ring designs most suitable. Many of our samples reflect 0.50cts diamond sizes for reference. You will see from our online options the respective ‘real’ diamond prices for any given metal, colour and clarity combinations.
2. Contact us with your suggested design(s). Either call us or email us. Our contact information appears on our main contact page.
3. We confirm availability of the sample Ring. If we have this available, we will confirm this for you on the day.
4. Pay your £75 deposit by debit or credit card. We will then send across an invoice by email and send out the sample ring wood boxed, ready for proposal. The ring goes out by Royal Mail Special Delivery. If we have the design in stock, we can send this for delivery the following day.
5. Propose with the replica ring.
6. Check her finger size following proposal with the included sizer we send out with the replica.
7. Decide on your preferred style. At this point, some couples actually decide to choose together, but you have retained the surprise and a wonderful proposal with ring in hand.
8. Place your order for the genuine engagement ring. Decide on the most suitable style, and specifications without any uncertainty once you have proposed.
As we noted at the start of this article, the above process will not suit everyone, but for some, this could be a perfect solution. Every week, questions of unknown finger size arises and attempt to give solutions that may work. For further information and guidance, always feel free to contact us where you will receive helpful friendly advice.
About Mark Johnson
My name is Mark and I'm founder at Serendipity Diamonds. By day you'll find me working in our showroom—in a variety of roles. My work (which I love) ranges from photographing jewellery, to writing blog posts and helping clients with my colleagues Drina, Emily and Debbie.
