“Everybody deserves some type of luxury,” Ms. Bunn, 36, said.
Kelly Augustine, a 35-year-old stylist, looks for rings that are open and adjustable when dressing clients. She also keeps a running list of jewelry designers who are size inclusive. Her favorites include L’Enchanteur (sculptural, wearable talismans), Automic Gold and JLANI Jewels (eco-conscious, everyday pieces), and Poirier, a demi-fine jewelry line born out of its founder’s own frustration at the lack of size-inclusive jewelry options.
Fine jewelry uses semi-precious to precious gemstones and precious metals like gold or platinum. The larger the ring, the more precious metal is used, the more expensive it is to make. Every time a diamond-wrapped eternity band goes up a size, another diamond gets added and the price increases. Costume jewelry may use less expensive plated metals and imitation gems, but low margins or not, it’s still risky to make product that may not sell. It costs money to stock product for a customer who may not come; it takes time to figure out who your customers are, what they want, what they’ll spend, how to reach them.
And yet, an increasing number of brands have made it their priority to offer rings in a range of sizes. They know the customers are out there — and they’ve been waiting. They’re commenting on brands’ Instagram accounts, asking for the elusive size 11. They’re custom-ordering a size 13 of L’Enchanteur’s best-selling signet ring that features a phoenix taking flight. They aren’t worried whether the rings are designed for women or men. Even the term “ring finger” feels antiquated. After all, the early aughts are back in fashion; some of us would like to wear rings on our pointer fingers and our thumbs.
When Automic Gold started making rings, its designer, AL Sandimirova, sampled a range of sizes rather than default to the jewelry industry’s narrow standard. “I didn’t know it was an industry standard because I didn’t get introduced into this from the fashion industry,” said Mx. Sandimirova, 33. “As a small business owner, I understand perfectly: It’s easier to make one sample than three samples. So I just make the most sampled size, technically, in my company.”
Mx. Sandimirova and their team wear their own designs for at least two months before launch to ensure the quality is up to standards, which means Automic Gold team members — and the width of their fingers — determine the sample sizes. The company’s rings — delicate chains made of reclaimed and recyclable gold; ethically sourced precious stones embedded in simple bands; unisex designs — run from sizes 2 to 16. Mx. Sandimirova searched online for fellow size-inclusive fine jewelry brands but soon realized that Automic Gold just might be “the only fine jewelry brand in the world” that carries this vast spectrum of sizes.