Size range for rings

What range and proportion of ring sizes do you make to avoid selling
out of one size and being stuck with rings that fit nobody?

I’m going to try the craft fair thing this spring, and I will likely
be making small production runs of the same ring style (say fewer
than ten). One stonesetter I know says that she has done more work
on women’s 6.5 (US) than any other size. What is your experience?

Thank you, Orchid!

Laurie Cavanaugh
Elegant Metal
@Laurie_Cavanaugh

I make rings from US size 3 through 13, and ring sizes are the
principal thorn in my side, since it seems that the folks with the
tiny fingers love the big rings, and the size 10 people fall in love
with a size 5.

Most of my rings are one of a kind, and when making a ring, there’s
always the question of what size to make it. I often hedge my bets a
little by making the ring easily enlarged with my ring enlarger, but
sometimes I can’t even do that, since the design goes all the way
around.

I guess a majority of women’s fingers are in the 5 to 7 range, but
they vary widely.

Janet Kofoed

I noticed, over the years, that average size has varied by location.
Several years ago, I ran a chain store in Indianapolis, Indiana, and
I noted that the average ladies finger size was in the 6-7 range. In
addition, I have had my own store in Kokomo, Indiana for about 19
years, and noted that the average was easily in the 7-8 range. I am
not sure if the difference is in the time period, as Americans have
become fatter and fatter, or if the difference is in the type of
employment done by the average Kokomonian.Kokomo and Indy are less
then an hour apart from each other. In Indy, I dealt with a high
percentage of executive type people, whereas I deal with an extremely
high percentage of factory people, or, people who work with their
hands. Although from what I’ve have seen myself, on a couple trips
thru the local Delphi plant during a normal workday, I didnt see
much of anyone doing any work with their hands, or their brains for
that matter. So the av finger size could be a result of larger hands
from working, or a difference in size as the population increases in
average sizes, or maybe its just because there are alot of fat people
here!

Ed in Kokomo

Well, from my experience the stock sizes from several vendors has
gone up. We are getting sizes in the 7-71/2 ranges where in years
past it was a good size smaller in stock sizes.

My feeling? The fattening of America. No stats on that as for vendor
reactions but it is a correlation of sorts.

As for resizes, except for more elderly ladies who have smaller
fingers or who need adjustable shanks to fit over swollen
knuckles…sizes are generally on the up side and not the reverse.
We do lots and lots of 8, 9 and 10’s in USA sizes. My impression is
we do more of these than in the past. Fingers…do appear to be
getting larger or chubbier. I have not noticed an appreciable size
difference in mens rings, not to say the men are getting any smaller
but perhaps don’t have the rings resized or have fewer rings to
wear.

Thanks for the post. I will look for followups from others in other
countries. This could be interesting.

Thomas.
@Sp.T