Wedding Blog
Balls. My ring has a pair of balls. I’m sorry for the vulgarity, but it’s true…
Why, you ask? When Mr. D and I finally found the perfect ring, I had tried on hundreds of rings. Seriously, hundreds. All the settings were a size 6, which was just a bit too tiny for my finger. By the time I tried on my ring, my finger was red, puffy, and very swollen. The sales manager sized my finger for the ring and we guesstimated that although I was measuring in at a size 7, that I was actually a size 6.75. He told us that we should only resize a ring twice to avoid damaging the metal.
Once the ring was on my finger, we realized it was a bit too loose.
It could spin all the way around my finger and I was terrified of going in the ocean with it. It almost went down the drain while I washing my parents’ dog! After that, we decided something must be done so when we visited New York, we swung by the Tiffany & Co.
They sent us up to the 6th floor where their customer service was located to meet with a jeweler. Instead of resizing the ring, or putting a butterfly clip on it, the jeweler recommended putting two shots (technical ball term) in the ring. It took about an hour and cost around $50 to do. The shots can be removed in the summer when my fingers swell and replaced in the winter when my fingers shrink. They were a bit uncomfortable at first, but now I hardly notice them.
Have you had any ring resizing adventures? What resizing method did you use and are you happy with it?
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Oh my gosh, how neat! I have never heard of that until now.
That’s really cool! I never knew that resizing a ring more than once would damage the metal. Good to know.
My ring has balls too 
My FI stole a ring from my right ring finger when he bought my ring not realizing that my left hand is skinnier than my right. Since my ring is not a perfect circle, but more of a square (not sure the technical term on that), the jeweler thought it better to put on the balls, and he is awesome and didn’t charge me. They bothered me the first day and now I can’t feel them. My only concern is that it might compromise my photographer’s ring shots I like so much on our wedding day.
That is a great idea! I’ve never heard of this. I have a problem sometimes with my fingers swelling and this could be a good fix. Thanks for posting!
I’ve never seen that before. My ring was originally a 7 (sized down to a 4). The week after we got engaged, I noticed my stone was loose. It was bizarre because I have a bezel setting (which is one of the strongest settings) and also becuase the jeweler who designed my ring was the one who sized it.
Turns out that since it was sized down so much, the bezel setting pulled away from itself a little bit. No worries, it was fixed in an afternoon and no problems since!
The Tiffany associate told me that shots were only if the ring was top heavy and not actually too big. She said if you’re scared of losing it at all to have it sized down. I wonder if I could have gotten away with having just shots and not sized down..
My Great Aunt had those on her ring b/c or her arthritis… the ring needed to be bigger to fit over he knuckle but tight enough to stay on her finger.
Wow, what an awesome solution! My fingers fluctuate a lot, and I would feel a lot better about this than constantly resizing. Thanks for sharing!
@Allie: I would ask your photographer about it ahead of time if you’re concerned. The photographer can likely edit the balls out of the picture. If not, it sounds like you might be able to get the balls removed prior to the ceremony/ring pics and then have them re-installed. If this is the case, I would just check with your jeweler so that you’re able to get them put back in before you leave on your honeymoon so you don’t lose your ring!
I had shots put into my e-ring and wedding bands at Tiffany’s too. Seems to be a popular option for them to recommend.
Anyway, I am happy with them because I can take my ring on and off with ease, but feels very secure on my finger. I actually had my rings sized from a 4 down to 2.75. eeep!
That’s so neat! I’ve been looking for options other than resizing my ring since my fingers fluctuate in size pretty drastically. This seems like a good alternative! Thanks!
My ring has a pair of balls too! Your hilarious! We should all become a club or something. I don’t notice them either, and it’s also better since your ring isn’t losing any value by taking away more of the precious metal. But what I don’t know if my matching band will have balls attached to it too…hmm
i….don’t get it!
are they permanently attached? I mean, how do you take them off in the summer??
My ring has balls too!! They actually had to put in a horseshoe and a pair of balls. The ring was so big on me it would fall off if I tipped my hand downward - very scary! For the first month of our engagement I was without my ring for three weeks - and I was not a happy camper. They couldn’t make the ring any smaller so they just started adding stuff to the inside. Long story short it took MULTIPLE trips to the jewelry before they got it right. So much for getting it engraved, but at least it fits!
I’ve never seen the balls before… wow! My ring was too big so I just got them sized down this weekend! I keep telling him “you think I’m fat!” hahah totally how to loose a guy in 10 days moment.. and then we laugh =)
@catrelle83: I’ll have to take it back to a Tiffany’s store for them to remove if it gets too uncomfortable.
@Allie: @lilneko69: @Vic004: We should have a club! Though I can’t think of a classy name for our shot club.
@Adrienne: wow that is intense! I’m glad it all eventually worked out though!
this is just the neatest idea ever.
are they just sautered on? i am absolutely intrigued by this!!
Sorry, i feel like the 2nd grader walking around going, “why? why? why? but….why?” i’ve never seen this done and didn’t know it was even an option!
@Vic004: I had shots put in my e-ring and both of my weddings bands (one on each side). I’ve been wearing it for about 3 months and it’s starting to annoy me.
It makes it difficult to take off. I have to take each ring off, one at a time to do dishes or shower, etc. I think I just really need the shots on the “outer” ring, meaning the ring holding the rest of my rings in place. I’m probably going to ask the Tiffany’s to remove the beads on the other 2 rings.
My dear friend has these too, because her center stone is about a 5ct and it holds the ring upright, rather than letting it spin.
That looks like a good idea - my ring also gets loose in the winter.
But I have to say, loose or not, there’s no way I’d wear my ring in the ocean! I take it off for washing and sleeping, so I’d never wear it to go swimming!
that’s a really cool idea. how easy are the balls to put on and take off?
Glad you found a good solution! But my eyes almost popped out of my head when you said you were afraid to wear your ring in the ocean. Don’t wear it in the ocean, even if your ring does fit you! If you lose your ring in the water, you’ve lost it forever! Sorry to go all Mom on ya, but your ring is too pretty to lose…
This is the first time I’ve ever heard of those. How cool!
I had to have a bridge put on my ring (sized down from a 5–> 4 so my jeweler told me that the shots wouldn’t work too well)
wow- I had no idea that that exists- what a neat solution!
i dont get it either - are they sautered on? Will there be a mark on your ring when they remove it? Are the balls platinum? LOL sorry so many questions…
I definately need this.. my ring spins and spins. It drives me crazy when i see pictures of us and in the corner - there’s my ring with the diamond leaning on my pinky =( LOL
I’m not sure of the technical term, but I suppose it is sodered on.
The shots would match your ring in terms of metal, so my shots were made of platinum. The jeweler will be able to easily add or remove them. I use the word “easily” relative to completely resizing your ring which cuts away metal and can alter the shape of your ring (i.e. Erindesmer above, whose bezel setting became loose).
Actually I have these too. My ring was a size 6 and when my FH and I went to get it sized down the sales associate said that anything below a seize 5 would have a hard time getting over my knuckle and would still be loose around my actual finger (i.e. it would still slide from side to side).
She recommended getting these ‘balls’ to help keep the ring in place. So far no complaints! I love how my ring stays in place and I can’t even tell they’re there.
I have these too! My ring still spins in the winter, but not nearly as much as it did before. I don’t usually notice them, except when I’m carrying something heavy, like grocery bags. Then they dig in, and OUCH!!
Wow– they think of something for everything! I am so glad your ring is safe and sound now…thanks to your pair of balls =)
Awesome! My BF Ashley has these put on her e-ring and she LOVES it so far. She didn’t need to put it on her wedding band bc the E-ring holds it on. I am thinking about it for mine too since it falls from side to side a lot.
Very interesting! I’ve never seen anything like this, but I’m going to keep it in mind in case my ring ever gets too big (haha, I think you can tell from this comment that I’m feeling hopeful that I can watch these last 20 lbs melt away in the near future)
Ooh, this is a perfect solution for my ring. I might have to research this further . . . .
I had my ring re-sized in August and my jeweler told me to make my ring a little smaller bc my hands would shrink the winter. I didn’t listen and she was right. My ring now is slipping all over the place - might be time for some little balls 
My ring needs balls, too!
I had it sized to fit snugly around my finger, but didn’t factor in my (bigger) knuckle! It wasn’t a HUGE issue (some soap, sometimes some Windex, to get it off), until one night when I had to hold my hand over my head for 15 minutes to reduce the swelling after trying unsuccessfully several times to shove it off. My finger was all cut up after that night, so I had to part with my ring for a few weeks to have it resized…and now it’s a spinner, so I’ll need to adjust again and add dots. 
you should try out some creative bachelorette party “ring shots” with the balls!
Do you have to pay $50 (or some cost) every time they are removed or put back on?
same story here. I live in an area where it’s cold a heck of a lot more than it’s warm, but when I live in southern cali I plan to change the size once. I’m a 5.75, but I luckily have a grandpa who is a jeweler who was able to make the custom size, so no balls for me!
I’ll change to six in june and there it will stay!
This was a great post. I have been getting a little tired on my ring moving around especially since winter has set in. I am going to bring this idea up with my jeweler.
A better solution that I found for engagement rings is to put in a small bump instead of balls. It is so much more comfortable and the ring fits much better.
we got the same ring…i had my ring resize cause it was too big:-)
That’s great to know. I have a vintage ring from the 1920’s that can’t be resized (they tell me) and I’ve noticed that it’s getting looser.
Don’t you just love Tiffany’s customer service. My ring had to resized twice and they were great about it. My FI tricked me into telling him my size which was 5 based on my right hand, so they resized it from the standard 6 to a 5. Then when I got ring, it was too loose for my left hand. So they resized it again to a 4.75. Now it fits perfectly.
i come from a dad who has been a jeweler all my life…and placing balls on your ring is the best solution for your ring if it’s too big or top heavy! woot! great post!
i have those on my ring too! i thought they would be uncomfortable at first but now i don’t even notice them. they also help keep my ring from moving side to side since it’s so top heavy.
What an awesome idea!!! I have the same problem with my ring going all the way around my finger… I’m terrified that it’s going to fly off my finger or get flushed down the toilet (worst fear EVER!). I need to look into that!
I have the balls too! My fiance got me a size 3.5 (the size I measured my finger out to be) but when I got the ring, the diamond kept turning. so when I got the balls (the jeweler in new york city where my fiance bought the ring did it for free), I told them to make them small and it made the ring a 2 and 7/8. This was in the summer. Now that it is the winter (and I lost some weight in anticipation of our engagement photos), the ring is again too loose and my fiance cringes every time he sees the diamond turned to the side. He wants me to go back again and get bigger balls put in.
wow ive never heard of this before, but its not to know its an option
this is so interesting. how is it taken off and on? Is it just extra metal?
@cj2009: I’m sorry I don’t know more about the process, but I’m pretty sure they’re just extra metal attached with heat to weld them together. In order to get them off I’ll have to take the ring back to Tiffany & Co. and have them do it.
Wow I have never heard of such a thing…sounds interesting. Such a wonderful idea, I wonder if my jeweler can add balls to my ring….LOL
[...] The manager brought us champagne and we purchased the ring that day. Our experience was so fantastic I even wrote Tiffany & Co. about how wonderful and different from our other experiences it was (no sweats! well, I didn’t tell them that…). Sadly, when trying to size my finger we estimated incorrectly. My finger was SO swollen that we still ended up guessing the size too large, which is how my ring ended up with a pair of balls. [...]
[...] The manager brought us champagne and we purchased the ring that day. Our experience was so fantastic that I even wrote Tiffany & Co. about how wonderful and different from our other experiences it was (no sweats! Well, I didn’t tell them that…). Sadly, when trying to size my finger, we estimated incorrectly. My finger was SO swollen that we still ended up guessing the size to be too large, which is how my ring ended up with a pair of balls. [...]
I had no idea that this was even an option for sizing rings! What a neat way to size a ring!
I’ve never heard of that before! What an awesome idea! Balls. lol.
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Mrs. D'orsay, Baltimore/Lancaster UK
Age and Occupation: 24, Stay at home fiance (formerly in nonprofit communications)
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Web site developer and designer; co-owner of men's skincare shop
Engagement Date: August 10, 2008
Wedding Date: August, 2009
Venue: Oakland Manor
About Me: I'm a Maryland raised environmental policy wonk/activist/organizer and communications aficionado. In the past year I've lived in Baltimore, MD, Tucson, AZ, Miami, FL and Lancaster, England. In my not so spare time I enjoy planning trips with Mr. D' Orsay, visiting friends and family and crafting like a mo-fo. I also enjoy modern dance classes, rugby and soccer but have been banned by my mother, MOHs, and Mr. D' Orsay from playing till after the wedding. I have an unnatural addiction to cheese and shoes, but love Mr. D' Orsay more than either and can't wait to become Mrs. D' Orsay!
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