Buy a sterling silver adjustable ring online

If you're buying a ring for yourself or a loved one online, the sizing aspect can sometimes be a little tricky. You might know that you need a size 7 ring in theory, but the best fit might be one or even two sizes either side of that, because the design of the ring has a bigger bearing on the fit than you might expect. For example if you're buying a ring with a wide band, it makes sense to buy a size larger than you normally go for. Likewise if you're buying a very narrow band ring (such as the stacking rings that are big right now), you may find that you can get away with a ring that's half a size smaller than your normal size.

However, there is a way round the sizing problem - buy an adjustable ring!

Most adjustable rings will allow you to go a one or two sizes larger or smaller than the one advertised - it depends on the style (more about this below). I've had a look on Amazon.com and have found some fab adjustable rings. I've concentrated on sterling silver because it's affordable yet durable, and suits most women really well - scroll on down and see what you think!

Adjustable rings fall into two main camps: open-backed rings that look like regular, conventional rings from the front, and rings where the opening is made into a part of the design.

Sometimes the designs are really creative - one such ring that caught my eye was AzureBella's crucifix nail ring in oxidised sterling silver. There are two different rings in the same design - one is made to fit sizes 8-14, while the other is for smaller fingers. As the name suggests, the crucifix nail ring has a clear religious meaning but I think it would also be great for anyone who's into the goth look. If you like the Southwestern look, then Southwest Spirit's adjustable bypass ring could be for you - its diamond-cut relief pattern against an antiqued background is designed to look like tooled leather. This ring is made in the USA and is nickel-free - great news if you suffer from an allergy to this metal. Another option to go for is Silver Messages' sterling silver cat or spoon ring; the latter looks for all the world as though it's made from an old silver spoon!

And so on to the other type of adjustable ring: the one where you can't see that it's adjustable when you're wearing it. 

I loved the look of Silver Insanity's hammered flower sprig ring. The one shown - which has "Size 6" in the title, is described as "slightly adjustable"; I would err on the side of caution and assume that this means "adjustable to one size either way". You can however buy bigger versions, which means that all sizes from 5 up to and including size 9 are catered for at the time of writing (do bear in mind what I said earlier about rings with thick bands though!) If you want a plain hammered band without the flowers, then WestCoast Jewelry and JewelryWeb do some great-looking rings, a few of which are shown in the capsule on the right. For something a bit different, how about Silver Insanity's bronze gold circle ring? This is made from sterling silver plated with 14k gold, and weighs a healthy 8.9 grams.

If you want an adjustable silver ring with a stone, there is a wealth of choice, including some with stones made from semi-precious gems I'd never heard of before!  Like charoite and seraphinite, both of which are found in only one place in the world - Siberia.  Charoite is a lovely deep purple colour, while seraphinite is a sort of deep sea green.  Or you can go for adventurine or dendritic agate.  Dendritic agate is a really unusual stone which looks as though it has pieces of moss or fern trapped in it, but the moss/fern is actually made from minerals rather than anything of plant origin.  There are also plenty of adjustable silver and amber rings on Amazon, including some real statement pieces.  Unlike most gemstones amber is actually organic in origin - it's the fossilized resin of prehistoric trees.  So it won't surprise you to learn that it's softer and needs slightly more care than most gemstones.  For example when you're cleaning any silver jewellery pieces that have amber in them, don't immerse them silver dip or use abrasive polish on the amber itself - just wipe it with a soft damp cloth.  It also helps if you store amber pieces in a pouch so that they doesn't get scratched by your other jewellery items, and don't allow the amber to come into contact with household chemicals, hairspray or perfume.

© KitschKat November 2010