Can Sterling Silver Be Resized?

A ring should fit snugly around your finger, but not too tight. You should have some resistance as you put it on or take it off but it should be easily removed. If your ring is too tight or too small, you need to get it resized. 

Whether it’s a wedding band, engagement ring, or just an accessory, rings sometimes need to be resized as we age and gain or lose weight. 

As we age, our fingers can get larger or sometimes even smaller. Or maybe the wrong size was purchased and doesn’t fit you as it should. Well, most rings can be resized so that they fit you, but this can depend on the type of metal it is. 

A common metal for rings to be made out of is sterling silver. Although not as valuable as gold, a sterling silver ring is shiny but if it doesn’t fit you right it can be hard to wear. If you have a sterling silver ring that you love can it be resized?

Any ring that is made of sterling silver can be resized. However, if the ring is made of a plated material (such as gold plated, silver plated, etc.) then it cannot be resized. 

If you don’t know what sterling silver is, allow me to explain. Sterling silver is an alloy of metals but is mostly made up of silver. Just like gold, silver is soft and can be easily damaged when pure. So, to avoid this, other metals are added to the silver to make it more durable. 

Sterling silver is 92.5 percent silver and the rest is made up of other metals (usually copper).

Sometimes rings just don’t fit us how we want them to. It can be annoying to wear these rings because if they are too big, they slide off, and if they are too small, they squeeze your finger and can be hard to remove. The good news is that most rings can be resized if they are made of the right material. Rings that are made of gold, sterling silver, brass, or platinum can be resized as needed. 

So, sterling silver can be resized if you need to adjust it to fit your finger better. To see some of the most popular sterling silver ring designs just click here. 

How Much Does It Cost To Resize A Sterling Silver Ring?

If you are looking into resizing a ring, you may not know how much it is going to cost. This actually depends on the ring itself like its material, design, how it is being resized, etc. 

So how much should you expect it to cost to resize a ring made of sterling silver?

Resizing a sterling silver ring costs a lot less than resizing a gold ring. It will cost about $20 to $40 to have your sterling silver ring resized to fit your finger correctly.

There are many factors that go into resizing a ring such as the style, amount of detailing, band thickness, whether it’s being resized up or down and whether or not it features gemstones along with where you live. The cost of resizing a sterling silver ring depends on its worth and the amount of labor that is going to be spent on it. 

Some metals are worth more than others. Sterling silver isn’t as valuable as gold so resizing it won’t cost as much as resizing a gold ring. 

A 24k gold ring with an intricate twisted band and loads of diamonds is going to cost far more to resize than a plain sterling silver band. Sterling silver rings are the least expensive to resize costing only an average of $20 to $40.

Is It Easy To Resize Sterling Silver?

Sterling silver doesn’t cost much to resize. In fact, it costs less than virtually all other metals do. This is great news if you have a ring made out of this metal that you need resized. 

So, because it is a cheaper metal, is it easy to resize sterling silver?

It is easy to resize sterling silver and can typically be done by a jeweler in 10-15 minutes (if they have the workstation and materials on site). However, some jewelry stores will send out all of their resizing jobs so it might take a week or two to get your ring resized in that case. 

Some metals like yellow gold are easy to resize while others, like white gold, take some more work. Silver is the easiest metal to resize so resizing your sterling silver ring won’t be hard for a jeweler to do. 

Sterling silver is easy to resize. Although this may be subject to the rings design, and how it is being resized, sterling silver is pretty easy to work with. Not like white gold which has to be refinished and a reapplication of rhodium plating (this retains the whote gold color).

How Many Sizes Can A Sterling Silver Ring Be Changed?

If you are ready to get your ring resized it is important to note that it can only be changed by a certain size amount at a time. So, how many sizes can a sterling silver ring be sized up? 

Sterling silver can be resized up to two sizes up or down. You can’t do any more because it will put too much stress on the ring which could cause it to bend or crack. 

Resizing a ring down usually costs less than making it bigger (since you aren’t adding in more metal that costs money). The preferred method of resizing a ring to be bigger involves adding a “bridge” of metals to the back of the ring. The amount of material needed for this affects the price of the resizing.

Does Resizing A Ring Damage It?

If you are getting a ring resized, you want to know that it won’t be damaged in any way. If you love your ring, whether it is gold, sterling silver, or any other metal you want it to look the same as it did before the resizing just fitting you correctly. 

Does resizing a ring damage it?

Resizing a ring could potentially weaken the ring’s structure if it is stretched to become bigger. But there are safe ways that jewelers use to resize rings. So if your ring is resized by a professional there should be no damage done to the ring. 

Depending on what is done to the ring to resize it, it could damage it or be totally safe to do. When a ring is being resized down, it will become smaller. This usually involves cutting the band in the back and removing however much metal is needed to make the ring the right size. 

Then the two pieces of the ring are soldered back together. 

When a ring is being resized to make it bigger the process is slightly different. This is done by stretching the metal (which is not recommended), or cutting the band and creating a bridge of additional metals to rejoin the pieces together. 

Stretching the ring could result in weakening the ring structure as well as distorting the ring’s shape. This kind of resizing could damage the ring but the other ways mentioned won’t.

A good jeweler will never use the stretching method when resizing a ring as they want you to be happy and don’t want to risk damaging the ring either. 

Final Thoughts

Sterling silver can be resized and it is affordable and easy for jeweler to make this type of metal ring bigger or smaller depending on what you need.

We all want our rings to fit us as best they can. So, if you have a sterling silver ring that just doesn’t fit you quite right, it can be resized and won’t cost a fortune.