Planning to keep the proposal a surprise but wondering how to find out your girlfriend’s ring size? You certainly can’t ask her without making it obvious and giving the game away, so here are a few ideas to get you that vital piece of information!
1. Ask her friends/family to find out for you
The easiest way is to enlist the help of someone close to her. Her best friend, sister or mom can casually slip the question into conversation. There are endless ways they can do it – “Hey, I saw a ring you would love. What’s your ring size so I know for next time?” or “Do you know some people don’t know their ring size? Mine is X, what’s yours?” or “I need to find out my ring size, do you know yours?” or “Hey I read somewhere, people’s shoe sizes correspond to their ring sizes. It’s divide by two and add three. Does that work for you?”
Alternatively, they can invite her to go shopping with them and “spontaneously” decide to try on jewelry just for fun. If they start by looking at earrings or necklaces before moving on to rings, it will be less suspicious. A salesperson can be asked to professionally size everyone’s fingers. This is particularly helpful if your girlfriend doesn’t know her ring size.
2. Measure one of the rings she already has
If she already wears rings, you can use an existing ring of hers to figure out her ring size. It may be too risky to borrow her ring without her noticing it is gone, but you can measure it against our free PRINTABLE RING SIZER or trace the inner diameter of the ring on paper. Make sure it is a ring she wears on her ring finger. Also pay attention to the style of the ring - wider bands fit more tightly than finer bands and people size up for them. Try to choose a ring with a band width similar to the the engagement ring.
3. Measure her finger with a string while she is sleeping
When she is fast asleep, wrap a piece of string around her ring finger. Have a pen on hand to mark where the end meets. You can then measure the string, divide by π (or 3.14) to get the diameter of the ring, and look up the corresponding size on a ring size chart. Make sure you don’t hold the string too tightly or too loosely. You’ll want to avoid stretching it too much or the measurement will be inaccurate.
4. Compare fingers
Some people are good at eyeballing it and this can actually work. Especially if you know your own ring size, you can estimate hers by comparing the size of her fingers to yours.
Good luck, you’ve got this! And remember, if you’re unsure, size up because it’s easier to resize a ring to be smaller than it is to make it larger.