Most of my rings are cast to order - when you pick a size, I pour that size. Because every piece is handmade and all sales are final, the ten minutes you spend measuring is the most valuable part of the order. The good news: you don't need any special tools. A strip of paper, a pen, and a ruler with millimeters will get you within half a size, and this page walks you through the rest.
The string-and-paper method
Paper beats string here. String stretches while you wrap it, and a stretched measurement reads big - which means a ring that arrives loose. Cut a strip of plain paper about 5 mm wide and a few inches long, then:
- Wrap it around the base of the finger you'll wear the ring on - snug enough that it won't spin freely, loose enough that it isn't denting skin.
- Mark where the strip overlaps with a pen. One clean line, right where the end crosses over.
- Unroll it and measure from the end to your mark in millimeters. That number is your finger's circumference.
- Check it against your knuckle. The ring has to travel over the knuckle to get home. If your knuckle is clearly bigger than the base of your finger, wrap it there too and split the difference between the two readings.
- Do it three times. Wrap tension varies more than you'd think. Three readings that agree are worth more than one perfect-looking wrap.
Then find your circumference in the chart below and read off the US size. If you land between two sizes, see the wide-band section before you decide which way to go.
US ring size chart
These are standard US sizes, the same run offered in the size menu on every ring page - US 5 through 13, in half sizes.
| US size | Inside diameter | Circumference |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 15.7 mm | 49.3 mm |
| 5.5 | 16.1 mm | 50.6 mm |
| 6 | 16.5 mm | 51.9 mm |
| 6.5 | 16.9 mm | 53.1 mm |
| 7 | 17.3 mm | 54.4 mm |
| 7.5 | 17.7 mm | 55.7 mm |
| 8 | 18.1 mm | 57.0 mm |
| 8.5 | 18.5 mm | 58.3 mm |
| 9 | 18.9 mm | 59.5 mm |
| 9.5 | 19.4 mm | 60.8 mm |
| 10 | 19.8 mm | 62.1 mm |
| 10.5 | 20.2 mm | 63.4 mm |
| 11 | 20.6 mm | 64.6 mm |
| 11.5 | 21.0 mm | 65.9 mm |
| 12 | 21.4 mm | 67.2 mm |
| 12.5 | 21.8 mm | 68.5 mm |
| 13 | 22.2 mm | 69.7 mm |
Inside diameter is what you'd measure across a ring that already fits; circumference is what the paper strip gives you.
A better trick: measure a ring that already fits
If you own a ring that fits the right finger well, measuring it is more reliable than measuring your finger. Lay it flat and measure the inside diameter - inner edge to inner edge, straight across the widest point - and match it to the diameter column above. Skip anything oval, adjustable, or worn on a different finger; sizes don't transfer between fingers, and your two hands usually aren't the same size either.
Printable charts: fine, with two caveats
Printable sizing charts - the kind with ring circles you lay an existing ring over - work, but printers betray them constantly. If you use one:
- Print at 100% scale. "Fit to page," "shrink to fit," and default browser print settings all resize the chart just enough to shift you a full size. Turn every scaling option off.
- Verify with a ruler before trusting it. Good charts include a calibration bar. Measure it. If the chart says the bar is 50 mm and your ruler disagrees, the chart is lying to you and everything on it is off.
Reading a screen-displayed chart without printing is worse - displays scale by resolution and zoom level, so don't hold your ring up to a phone. Millimeters off a real ruler are the ground truth every time.
When to size up
A few honest rules from handing rings across a booth table:
- Wide bands fit tighter. A wide band - including a signet-style ring like the Bindle Conspiracy signet - covers more finger than a thin one, and that extra contact makes the same size feel snugger. If the design is wide and you're between sizes, take the half size up.
- Measure at the end of the day. Fingers are smallest first thing in the morning and largest in the evening or after a workout. A ring sized on cold morning hands will pinch by dinner. Aim for a normal, room-temperature evening.
- Festival hands run big. Heat, salt, and a long day on your feet all swell fingers. If the ring is going to live on the lot all summer, that's one more reason not to size on your coldest, thinnest reading.
- Right fit feels like this: slides on without a fight, needs a small deliberate twist to come back over the knuckle. A ring that falls off when you shake your hand out is too big; one that leaves a deep groove is too small.
How sizing works on a LotBoy ring
Every ring page has a size menu running US 5 through 13 in half sizes - you pick your size right there before the ring goes in the cart, and I cast the ring in that size. Sizes 10.5 and up carry a $20 surcharge for the extra silver, and that's marked in the size menu itself, not sprung on you at checkout. Made-to-order rings like the Magic Beans inlay ring (the whole Magic Beans collection has its own page) run 2–3 weeks before shipping since each one is poured fresh; now and then a design like the Phish ring is poured ahead in set sizes, and in-stock pieces ship in 3–5 business days. Everything ships USPS Priority at a flat $10 in the US.
Because each ring is cast for your finger and all sales are final on handmade work, measure before you order - and if you're stuck between sizes or your knuckle is complicating things, email lotboyjewelry@gmail.com before you buy and we'll figure it out together. Full policy details are on the shipping & returns page.
While you're deciding
If your ring has a crushed opal or stone inlay channel, read the opal & stone inlay care guide so you know how to treat it - and the sterling silver care guide covers the metal itself. Picking stones for a custom pour? The stone meanings guide and the stone catalog are the place to start, and if you're curious what makes some pieces one-of-a-kind, that's covered in what "1 of 1" means.