What Makes This Ring So Perfect?

First, it's a ring. Years ago, a well known wire work author asked me to recommend weaves and ring sizes for her to make a series of finger rings to embellish with wire work for one of her books. My recommendation was that she just not do it because I couldn't make a single satisfying ring. By satisfying, I mean a ring that is comfortable, holds up well, and looks good. I could not work out a single unflawed ring design using chainmaille alone. It isn't easy, so it isn't common, which means most people have never even seen a chainmalle ring at all, much less a great one.

Comfort -- This ring is ridiculously comfortable and effortless to wear because the chain is flat but it armadillos when curved, like dragonscale does, which makes it cling to the finger in a half round wire shape. Most rings are made of half round wire because it's so comfortable to wear, yet those rings feel like an iron lung compared to this one. The finger is not perfectly round, like a rigid ring. This ring conforms perfectly to the finger so after a very short time (hours) you don't feel it at all. It's like having a strip of soft fabric wrapped around your finger. When you've been wearing this one for awhile, other rings seem unnecessarily restrictive by comparison.

Durability -- I wore the prototype, an untumbled 22g sterling, for a month straight and it didn't so much as snag a hair until after Izzi chewed on it. (I had coconut oil on my hands and she was trying to bite it out. :) No ring (or cellphone or headphones or furniture) can stand up to Malamute teeth but if that's what it takes to make an untumbled, butted maille ring snag its first hair, that's pretty impressive. I'm wearing a 24g sterling now and it's doing just as beautifully. There is no torque with this weave, no pressure on the rings at all, so the ends don't separate with wear, even the kind of harsh wear rings get.

Looks -- Every person who's seen this ring has wanted one. People who don't wear jewelry, even manly construction guys who do not wear rings at all, have flat out asked for them. Many are people we know, who know what we do, and have never asked for things before. This ring causes jewelry lust in people who do not get jewelry lust.

The design is unisex, neither masculine nor feminine inherently, which is great, but it can be leaned toward the masculine with square and diamond rings and/or a larger gauge or oxidation, or leaned toward the feminine with embellishment or daintiness of gauge.

The Perfect Ring is made from a single strip of the Vertebrae weave, joined in a continuous circle. Vertebrae is easy enough for a beginner. We have a slideshow that teaches the weave and another that shows how to join it into a circle. The downloadable tutorial is a brief summation of both.

Making the Ring

To make a ring, simply weave the required number of rows of Vertebrae in the recommended ring sizes and join the ends of the weave together in a continuous loop. Vertebrae is easy to join, simply overlap the ends to match the rest of the weave and join with two of the small rings. View this slideshow for more detail on joining the ends together.

Sizing

The ring sizing information below will enable you to determine how many rows you need.

To measure the finger, we suggest using a wide band or wedding band ring sizer. Measure the finger for a tight fit at the knuckle, then go one size smaller on the chart below. You can also use a Multisizer Ring Gauge to get a measurement of the knuckle AND the base of the finger.

The ring is flexible and it will flare to slide over the knuckle and then settle securely onto the finger. If you make the ring too loose, it could be flung off accidentally, especially when wet and soapy, but a properly sized ring will hold onto the finger comfortably below the knuckle and stay in place.

For example, let's size a 20g ring for a finger that measures 8 at the knuckle. You can see on the chart below that it takes 21 rows of the weave to make a size 8 to 8.5. We want the ring a little be tighter than the measurement at the knuckle, so the best size should be 20 rows.

Of course, fingers are individuals and you may need to adjust sizes differently for different shapes of fingers, but the chart will give you good guidance.

The smaller the ring gauge, the more sizing options you have. But even in 18g, you have enough sizing options to make a perfect fit.

Putting It On and Taking It Off

Put a little pressure on the top of the ring to push it down over the knuckle. Pushing the ring by the edge flares the other side of the ring open a little which makes it easier to slide over the knuckle. To take the ring off, reach over the finger and pinch the bottom side of the ring and pull up. Pinching the bottom causes the top of the ring to flare open and makes it easy to slide over the knuckle.

 

Ring Size	18g	20g	22g	24g	(inches)	(mm)
5		18			1.94	49.28
5.5			22	31	1.99	50.55
6		19			2.04	51.82
6.5			23	32	2.09	53.09
7		20			2.14	54.36
7.5			24	33	2.19	55.63
8	17	21			2.24	56.90
8.5			25	34	2.29	58.17
9					2.34	59.44
9.5	18	22	26	35	2.39	60.71
10					2.44	61.98
10.5		23	27	36	2.49	63.25
11	19				2.54	64.52
11.5			28	37	2.59	65.79
12		24			2.65	67.31
12.5	20		29	38	2.70	68.58
13					2.75	69.85
13.5		25	30	39	2.80	71.12
14	21				2.85	72.39
14.5					2.90	73.66
15		26			2.95	74.93

 

Note: If you know your aspect ratios, you'll notice no consistency in our recommendations for this weave. We tested the weave in every gauge for the best look and characteristics for the design so that the ring sits nicely on the finger and the aspect ratio did not remain consistent up and down the chart.

Made with Round Rings

Weave	Shape	Gauge	ID (mm)	RPI
Vertebrae	RD	24	1.625	28
24g	RD	24	1.875	14
Round	RD	24	2.875	14
Vertebrae	RD	22	2.000	20
22g	RD	22	2.750	10
Round	RD	22	4.000	10
Vertebrae	RD	20	2.625	16
20g	RD	20	3.000	8
Round	RD	20	4.750	8
Vertebrae	RD	18	3.000	12
18g	RD	18	4.500	6
Round	RD	18	6.500	6

Made with Square and Diamond Rings

Weave	Shape	Gauge	ID (mm)	RPI
Vertebrae
24g
SQ/DI
Vertebrae	DI	22	2.250	20
22	SQ	22	2.875	10
SQ/DI	SQ	22	4.250	10
Vertebrae	DI	20	2.635	18
20g	SQ	20	3.500	9
SQ/DI	SQ	20	5.000	9
Vertebrae	DI	18	3.500	12
18g	SQ	18	4.750	6
SQ/DI	SQ	18	7.000	6

As with all of our work, we invite you to make and sell as many of everything as you like, but ask that you don't publish our instructions or ring sizes.

About Our Rings