jewellery sizing
Jewellery is measured through a gauge system (see chart below).
- The *higher* the gauge measurement number the *smaller* the wire is.
- A common "earring" is usually 18 gauge.
- A standard ear piercing at a piercing studio with a needle is usually a 14 gauge.
- To get larger gauge piercings you should have a piercing professional stretch your piercings.
- Jewelry gauges/sizes can vary between manufacturers. There is no universal regulation on companies to make a standard size in body jewellery. A large part of this is that some jewellery is made overseas and measured in millimetres. And in the USA jewellery is measured in inches/gauges. So many times jewellery can be anywhere from .5mm to 1mm different.
| Gauge | Millimetre | Inch |
| 18g | 1.01mm | |
| 16g | 1.29mm | 3/64" |
| 14g | 1.62mm | 1/16" |
| 12g | 2.05mm | 5/64" |
| 10g | 2.59mm | 3/32" |
| 8g | 3.25mm | 1/8" |
| 6g | 4.11mm | 5/32" |
| 4g | 5.18mm | 3/16" |
| 2g | 6.52mm | 1/4" |
| 0g | 8.23mm | 5/16" |
| 00g | 9.24mm | 3/8" |
| 000g | 10mm | 13/32" |
| 11.11mm | 7/16" | |
| 12.7mm | 1/2" | |
| 14.28mm | 9/16" | |
| 16.66mm | 5/8" | |
| 17.46mm | 11/16" | |
| 19.05mm | 3/4" | |
| 20.63mm | 13/16" | |
| 22.22mm | 7/8" | |
| 23.81mm | 15/16" | |
| 25.4mm | 1" | |
| 26.9mm | 1-1/16" | |
| 28.5mm | 1-1/8" | |
| 30.1mm | 1-3/16" | |
| 31.7mm | 1-1/4" | |
| 33.3mm | 1-5/16" | |
| 34.9mm | 1-3/8" | |
| 36.5mm | 1-7/16" | |
| 38.1mm | 1-1/2" | |
| 39.6mm | 1-9/16" | |
| 41.2mm | 1-5/8" | |
| 44.4mm | 1-3/4" | |
| 47.6mm | 1-7/8" | |
| 50.8mm | 2" |