The request lands in the DMs: "Can you put the coordinates of the beach where we got engaged on the inside of his wedding band?" The answer is yes, but the coordinate string has to be formatted before it touches the engraving bur. Latitude and longitude in degrees-minutes-seconds is 28 characters on a 3 mm shank; in decimal degrees it is 18. That difference decides whether the engraving fits at all. This piece is the formatting and sizing guide we use for date and coordinate commissions.
Date formats that actually engrave well
Three formats work. Numeric: 14.06.2024. Eight characters, fits on a 2.5 mm shank in a 0.6 mm script. Short word: 14 Jun 2024. Ten characters, needs a 3 mm shank. Long word: June 14, 2024. Thirteen characters, needs a 4 mm shank or an exterior engraving on a bangle. The legal side matters too: the 16 CFR 23 marking rules govern what has to be stamped on the inside (the metal fineness and maker's mark), so the customer's date cannot crowd those marks off the shank. We keep 1 mm of clearance on either side of the legal marks before we start the personal engraving.
Coordinate formats and character counts
Degrees-minutes-seconds: 34° 3' 18" N, 118° 14' 28" W. Roughly 31 characters. Too long for a ring shank; fits on a bangle exterior or a pendant back.
Decimal degrees: 34.0557, -118.2390. Eighteen characters. Fits on a 4 mm shank inside. This is the format we recommend.
Six-digit shorthand: 34.05, 118.24. Eleven characters. Fits on a 3 mm shank. Loses some precision but reads cleanly at arm's length.
We do not recommend using minutes and seconds on a ring; the prime and double-prime marks crowd the characters and the engraver has to drop to 0.5 mm lettering, which wears off in 3 to 4 years of hand abrasion.
Where to put the engraving on each piece type
Rings get the inside of the shank. Bangles get the flat exterior panel, which can fit up to 60 characters. Cufflinks get the back of the face. Pendants get the back plate. Stud earrings rarely have room for anything longer than initials. For longer text like poetry, see inside-band poetry engraving; for font choice between script and block, script vs block fonts compares the two. Crest-style engravings for signet rings are covered in signet crest design, and the broader menu of ideas lives in inside and outside engraving ideas.
Wholesale buyers: we offer both hand engraving and machine diamond-drag engraving. Hand engraving costs $65 to $125 and lasts the life of the piece. Machine engraving is $25 to $45 and suits shorter customer-facing text. We ship a layout proof before we cut.
A common mistake on coordinate commissions: the customer sends a Google Maps pin in DMS format and the engraver copies it verbatim. Google Maps shows coordinates to 6 decimal places by default, which is 22 characters before the comma. We always reformat to 4 decimal places (roughly 10 meters of precision) before we cut. That is more than enough to identify a beach or a city block, and it fits on a 3 mm shank. We also recommend dropping the minus sign on western longitudes and writing W instead, which saves two characters per line.
One more formatting rule: dates and coordinates should never be mixed with names on the same line. We split personal engraving into two lines when possible: the name on the first line, the date on the second. That reads cleaner than a comma-joined string and lets the engraver use a slightly larger letter height. On a 3 mm shank, two lines of 0.6 mm script fit; one line of 12 characters at 0.6 mm fits. On a 4 mm shank, two lines of 0.8 mm script fit comfortably, which is the size we recommend for any text the customer expects to read without glasses.
How small can you engrave on a ring inside?
0.6 mm minimum letter height for hand engraving. Below that, the details wear off in 2 to 3 years. We recommend 0.8 mm for any text the customer expects to read at arm's length.
Do coordinates need to be decimal degrees?
For a ring, yes. Degrees-minutes-seconds is too long. We convert DMS to decimal for free when the customer sends us the map pin.
Will the engraving wear off on a bangle?
Hand engraving on a bangle exterior wears slowly because the surface is hard and the letters are cut 0.1 mm deep. Re-polish every 5 years to keep the edges crisp.
Can I engrave a fingerprint or handwritten note?
Yes. We scan the handwriting at 600 dpi and diamond-drag it. A signature up to 15 mm wide fits on the back of a pendant or the outside of a wide band.
Does engraving affect the warranty?
No. We engrave before final QC, so the piece ships as a finished, warranted commission. Engraving added later by a third party can void the setting warranty, which is why we recommend doing it in one bench session.
