12 business days, plus shipping transit time.

Since we are not able to keep all sizes and colors of each ring design in stock, rings are made-to-order, hence the 12 business day lead time before shipping - shipping rings on time is one of our highest priorities!

We can often alter one of our existing designs to fit with a different size, shape, colour, or species of gemstone. For rings worn every day, the best gemstones (whether natural or lab-created) are: diamonds, moissanite, sapphires, and rubies. These are the hardest gems and are not susceptible to scratching. Please feel free to contact us with your request.

Unfortunately, we do not have a public showroom, just a private studio. If you have questions, reach out to peterhodesdesigns@gmail.com as we often will have information that can help. We can also send scale images of our rings that can help with your choice.

Because the shanks of our engagement rings are straight and our settings sit on top of the shanks, our engagement rings will fit closely to many available wedding bands, so feel free to “mix and match.” We also offer several wedding bands that will fit with our engagement rings in theme and shape.

To help you in your decision, feel free to contact us and we can send you a photo or a properly proportioned rendering of a specific wedding band and engagement ring together.

Orders can be placed directly through this website by adding an item to your cart and following the check out steps. Pieces are made-to-order upon receipt of payment. Payment can be made with Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover card, Diners Club Card, or Paypal. GST and HST applies to orders within Canada and will be processed upon check out. Duty and customs may apply if you are located in the US or Internationally. Items shipped to the USA that are less than US$800 are not subject to duty and customs.

Gemstones of 0.30 carats and greater come with certificates and warranties as follows:

• Lab Grown Diamonds and Natural Diamonds: IGI (International Gemological Institute), GIA (Gemological Institute of America), or DF (Diamonds Factory) certificate and grading report.
• Neo Moissanite: A Certificate of Authenticity and Limited Lifetime Warranty Card issued by the creators of Neo Moissanite. Gemstone comes with a unique ID and may be registered.
• Chatham Lab Grown Sapphires: A Limited Lifetime Warranty Card
  

One of the best ways to find out your finger size is to visit a local jeweler and ask them to size your finger. Let the person sizing your finger know the approximate shank width of rings you are interested in, so they can choose a set of ring sizers of similar width and so more accurately determine your size. For example, most of our engagement rings have shanks that are between 2.5mm and 3.5mm wide, and 3mm wide ring sizers (the most common size) work well for those.

Keep in mind that fingers are a little bit smaller when they are cold, and they tend to be a little larger in the morning when you first wake up and then smaller in the evening. Also, fingers will be a little larger on a hot day and right after a workout. So, when it comes to finding the ring size that is going to fit the best throughout the day and year-round, you’ll want to get sized when your fingers are most average, which means avoiding doing it right after a workout, or first thing in the morning, or when your hands feel unusually warm or cool.

A second option for determining your ring size is to order a set of ring sizers online. These are usually available for about US$15 or less. They are usually available in sets that are 3mm wide and sets that are 6mm wide, so make sure to get the set that is closest in width to the ring shank width you are interested in. Try the sizers on at different times through the day (while avoiding the extremes mentioned in the paragraph above) or even wear one throughout the day. Ring sizer sets usually come in ½ size increments, and we can make our rings in ¼ size increments, so if you determine that one of the ring sizers is a little bit tight at times through the day, and the next size up is a little loose at times through the day, we are able to make a ring for you in between these two sizes. A nicely fitting ring takes about a second to push on over the knuckle and about 2 seconds to pull off over the knuckle.

Note:
When it comes to determining your ring size there's no substitute for trying on either a
ring sizer or a ring itself. It's easy to be off with methods like wrapping a string or strip of paper around the finger.

Unfortunately, no. Karat golds such as 14K and 18K gold are alloys of pure gold and other metals (usually copper, silver, and a small amount of zinc). The percentage of the different non-gold elements varies between alloy manufacturers which means that we may run into casting quality issues if we need to melt your existing gold jewelry together with our gold. So, in order to maintain casting quality, we only mix gold from the same supplier.
If you have a piece of jewelry you no longer want, we recommend sending it to a trusted refinery to get the trade-in value for your jewelry.

We use a very old jewelry making technique called “lost wax casting”. Basically we make a wax version of your ring in order to make a mold that we then pour molten gold into to form your ring. The resulting casting is professionally polished and buffed. All of our rings are solid gold.

All of the gold we use is lead-free and cadmium-free. Like most white gold pieces
available today our white gold rings are plated with rhodium. The white gold we use does contain nickel, as is the case for most white gold used to make jewelry in North America, it’s much less common to have sensitivity issues to white gold than a piece of nickel-plated costume jewelry and in addition, the rhodium plating provides a hypoallergenic barrier. We make pieces in solid 10K, 14K and 18K yellow and white gold, and in solid 10K and 14K rose gold.

It depends on the exact make-up of the specific alloy, but rose golds, which contain more copper and less silver, tend to be softer than the other two colors. The yellow golds and white golds that we use are similar in hardness.

Is 10K gold harder than 14K gold? Although this is sometimes the case, the particular gold alloys we use, which have been formulated so they can be cast into intricate designs, are similar in hardness.

Our insurance is not set up to cover loss or damage to a customer’s gemstone so unfortunately we’re not setting customer’s gemstones at this time.

Our halo gemstone rings are placed in a round ivory colored velvet jewelry box. Pink and gray are also available, so if you prefer one of those colors just let me know when you order(in the Order Special Instructions box which appears in your shopping cart). Our other rings are placed in a black velvet jewelry box.

Our engagement rings, bands and leaf bands can be re-sized up to one full size up or one full size down from the size they were originally made. This is done via the traditional jeweler’s technique of cutting the shank of the ring where there are no details and then adding a piece of gold or removing gold as required with the use of a soldering torch and gold solder.

Bands such as our Roman numeral rings and some of the Celtic bands, cannot be resized in this way because there are details all the way around the shank. They can be stretched up in size up to ½ a size but they cannot be sized down.

It’s important to be sure of your ring size before you place your order, and especially important in the case of eternity bands. When your ring is made we take care to make it precisely the size you order.

If you find that you need to have your ring resized you can either have a local jeweler do the resizing, or alternatively we can re-size your ring for US$30 plus the cost of additional gold need plus shipping both ways. Our turnaround time is about 1 week. Contact us for details.

You can help avoid damage like scratched and bent rings and chipped gemstones by removing your rings before activities that expose them to impact. For example things like weightlifting, working with tools, sports activities and gardening. Also, it is good practice when storing your jewelry, to place each of your jewelry pieces in separate boxes or cloth bags to keep them from knocking against each other and getting scratched when moved.

You should remove your jewelry to bathe and wash your hands. Avoid swimming in chlorinated water while wearing your ring(s).

Remove your ring(s) before using harsh chemicals (includes many household cleaners), greases and solvents. Also avoid applying hairspray, perfumes and lotions while wearing your rings.

Avoid scratches by removing your ring(s) before using abrasives.

It is also good practice to store each of your jewelry pieces in separate boxes or cloth bags to keep them from scratching each other.

The best way to clean gold jewelry at home, including gold jewelry with diamonds and sapphires, is with warm soapy water (dishwashing liquid works fine) and a soft toothbrush. After rinsing, it should then be dried with a soft lint-free cloth. At this point you can use a commercially available precious metal polishing cloth to buff up the metal setting and it won’t hurt the gemstone. Polish areas of the piece in one direction to maximize shine. Never clean your jewelry with solvents such as alcohol, acetone or paint thinner.

Over the years, and especially with daily wear, the prongs that hold gemstones in place can wear down and/or become bent if they catch on things. This can result in unsecure gemstones. If you notice that a gemstone is loose, take your ring to a local trusted jeweler and they can perform routine repairs such as prong re tipping to resecure the gemstone. While your own inspections can often spot unsecure gemstones, it is good practice to take gemstone rings you wear daily to the jeweler every year for a more detailed inspection and repairs if necessary.