6 Ways To (Secretly) Find A Ring Size

Are you considering gifting a personalized hand-carved name ring? Great idea!! We believe that a unique hand-carved personalized name ring is a great gift to give, and even better to receive. While it’s an easy gift to choose, it might not always be obvious what size you need to select. Here are six super stealthy suggestions for secretly finding your recipient’s ring size:

1. Borrow one of his or her existing rings

Level of Difficulty: 4/10

One of the easier ways that you can figure out a ring size without someone noticing would be to find one of that person’s rings and borrow it temporarily. Normally we wouldn’t condone taking anything without her permission, but in this case, we think it’s for a good cause.

The trick is to be stealthy as you borrow the ring. Take note of where he or she keeps his or her rings, whether it be in a jewelry box or if just on the nightstand as they go to shower or get ready. Try to choose an opportunity when you will have more time so that you can be accurate and won’t be worried about them coming back and exposing your secret.

It is very important to know which finger and hand they wear the particular ring on for a few different reasons. A woman’s dominant hand might be larger than her less dominant hand. Also, each of her fingers will have a different ring size. If you tell this to a jeweler, they will help you come up with an approximate size depending on which hand and finger she normally wears the ring on.

Once you have the ring in your possession, you can do one of two things depending on the amount of time you will be borrowing the ring. If she’s gone for the weekend, then you can take the ring to a local jeweler to have it sized. You can even buy your own ring sizer online to measure it yourself at home. If you have very little time to borrow the ring before she notices, you can even place the ring on a piece of paper and trace a circle around the middle. This circle can help jewelers figure out the size of the ring once you bring it in. Just be careful. The latter technique may not produce the most accurate results, so just be aware. For the best results, try to get the ring professionally sized using a special tool at a jewelry store.

2. Get the help of family or friends

Level of Difficulty: 3/10

Getting the help of family or friends can be a really easy solution to this problem. Chances are, at one point they’ve probably talked about engagement rings and ring sizes. Maybe they’ve tried some of their rings on, so friends and family will have a good idea of her relative ring size. But, with this comes a little uncertainty. Your results may not be as accurate as actually sizing a ring she already wears on a daily basis. Unless a friend or family knows with 100% confidence the ring size of your girlfriend, chances are you can only really get a “pretty good” idea of her ring size this way.

It may be worth reaching out to friends and family. Maybe at one point they’ve purchased a ring for her as a gift, and they would be able to reference this purchase. In these particular cases, friends and family would really be your best sources of information. But, the most important thing about this tactic is that you should be able to absolutely trust friends and family with your secret. The worst outcome here would be if one of them accidentally leaked the surprise proposal. If you know her friends and family well and trust that they could keep the secret, asking them for help may be a good option to consider.

3. Sneak it into conversation

Level of Difficulty: 7/10

This tactic will take some skill. Do you have it in you? If you think you can smoothly ask for her ring size in a conversation without giving anything away, it’s a perfect technique to utilize in order to find her ring size. 

You can be creative with how you bring it up in conversation. One idea would be to ask her ring size because you are buying a ring for your sister, mom, relative, etc. Whether you actually buy that ring is up to you, but you could ask her to give her ring size to get an idea of what size to get for the present. It can be used as a benchmark, even though we all know that the real ring is coming soon after.

There are a lot of ways to do this, so be creative! Just make sure you can execute it in a way that is natural and doesn’t lead them down the path of suspicion. 

4. Recruit others

Level of Difficulty: 5/10

This tactic is another one where it is incredibly important to trust whoever you bring in to help you. Recruiting the help of others is a little bit easier than trying to sneak the question into conversation, because there may be less suspicion on their part. A friend asking about a ring size is way less obvious than if you were to flat out ask them. They would never suspect that you asked other people to get in on a gift, so you may be able to find out in a more direct way.

The success level for this technique will vary based on the questions that your accomplice asks. If you have someone who bluntly asks what the ring size is, chances are you will receive an accurate answer. If you just know that her friend’s ring is small on her finger, you are still left with a range of possible ring sizes.

5. Compare their finger size to yours

Level of Difficulty: 1/10

Another tactic is to look at their finger size in comparison to yours. You can do this simply by inspecting their hand without them thinking too much into your actions. The level of difficulty on this is extremely low, but the room for error is high. Maybe you’ll notice that you have similar size fingers or that theirs are slightly smaller. Then you would need to determine your own ring size and try to estimate from there.  You can also try on their rings secretly and see if they fit any of your fingers (like your pinky for example), then get your finger measured!

 This does work in some instances, but you will need accept that there is a chance for error. 

6. Just ask!

Level of Difficulty: 0/10

Ok, so the whole point of this article was to help you find a ring size in a more subtle and secretive way. However, sometimes when it comes down to it, you really may want to just ask. 

This doesn’t mean you can’t keep the actual gift a secret. The details of the ring, however, can be kept as a secret so that your recipient is still surprised. 

Interesting Ring Size Facts:

• Our dominant hands tend to be slightly bigger (so make sure you are measuring for the hand the ring will go on!)
• The most common women’s ring size is 6 to 6.5.
• Wider rings have a tighter fit than thinner bands, so if you borrow a ring for a jeweler to measure, try to make sure that it is the same width as the ring you plan on purchasing.

At Via Valentina, our ring sizes include: 3-15. For more details regarding our ring sizes and conversion from European to American sizing, see our Size Guide here.

Have you ever had to get a ring size without the person knowing? Tell us about your experience in the comments!