You’ve been waiting patiently for months for your piercing to heal. Now, it’s finally time to start shopping for new jewelry. As you browse around, you see the word gauge everywhere. What does it mean? Body jewelry comes in different sizes and if you’re new to body jewelry, the gauge size can be a little confusing. Don’t worry, we’ll go over some gauge basics, so you can find the right jewelry for your piercing.
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First off, what exactly is this system? Contrary to what you might think, the gauge system in body jewelry isn't about pressure or water levels; it's a method for measuring the diameter, or thickness, of wires. However, it's easy to confuse it with terms related to stretched lobes or stretching jewelry.
The origins of this system trace back to the industrial revolution when wire production involved drawing metal through progressively smaller holes, reducing its diameter with each pass. Manufacturers counted the number of draws as their unit of measurement—meaning a 6g wire underwent six draws. This explains why higher gauge numbers correspond to smaller wire sizes.
Initially, various manufacturers had their own measurement standards, leading to inconsistencies. Over time, the system became standardized, with body jewelry commonly using the American Wire Gauge (AWG) system today. This system ranges from 40g (approximately 0.0799mm) down to larger sizes, although body jewelry typically doesn't go that small.
The gauge refers to the thickness of the body jewelry piece. When you see the size, it will have the number followed by the word gauge or its abbreviation “g”. The higher the gauge number, the thinner the jewelry will be. We know it’s confusing and counterintuitive, so check out the image below to get a better idea of what that looks like. You can see that 0g is much thicker than an 8g.
While we use the gauge system to measure body jewelry, there is no universal standard size measuring system for jewelry. In the US, we measure in inches, but international countries will measure in millimeters. Jewelry size for gauge ranges from 22g-00g. After 00g, jewelry will be measured in inches in the US and in millimeters internationally. To make it easier to compare between gauge, inches and millimeters, check out our handy conversion chart below. To see larger sizes on the chart, click here.
You’ve probably heard the word “gauges” or “gauged ears” being used. This comes from a misunderstanding or confusion of what the word gauge means. As we explained above, gauge refers to the thickness of the jewelry. When someone uses the word gauges, they’re probably referring to plugs or tunnels—the type of jewelry used in stretched lobes. If someone uses “gauged ears”, they’re probably referring to stretched lobes. While these terms have been used interchangeably in recent years, knowing exactly what they mean helps avoid confusion and makes it easier to find the jewelry you need.
Jewelry comes in all sizes and gauges. Knowing your gauge is important because it helps you find the right type of jewelry for your piercing and it helps keep your piercing safe. Knowing your gauge size is like knowing your shoe size. If you get ill-fitting shoes, it can be uncomfortable, painful and it even cause long-term effects. The same applies to jewelry. Wearing jewelry with the wrong gauge can be painful and can damage your piercing.
Everyone's anatomy is different, so the gauge you are pierced at will depend on what your piercer recommends. However, there are standard gauges for body piercings. Check out our chart below:
The chart above is a reference for the standard body piercings gauges, but your gauge might be different. When you’re getting pierced, be sure to ask your piercer what gauge your piercing jewelry is. If you know this information, you can shop for the right jewelry. On our site, you can filter your search by the gauge size. It’s that easy! If you don’t know what gauge size you are, you can use the gauge card included for free with each order (see the image below) or you download the gauge card down below, to measure the gauge of your jewelry piece. You can align the jewelry piece along the gauge measurements found on the top or bottom of the card to see what gauge the jewelry piece is. If you have a caliper, you can also measure the gauge with it as well. Calipers are very handy and easy to use. We recommend adding a caliper to your body jewelry essentials.
We often get asked, “Why don't large gauge rings come in small diameters?” Well, there are two main reasons for this:
During the maufacturing process, most body jewelry metals are worked while they are cold, not under heat. When you bend a thicker piece of metal into a circle while it’s cold, there are limitations on how tight the angle of that bend can be before it starts to undergo damage. If the metal is bent too much it can become stressed and will start to fracture, ruining both the sturdiness of the finished piece as well as the smoothness of the surface finish. Different metals have different stress points, that’s why you might find a 10 gauge 5/16" ring in steel but not in titanium. Titanium tends to be more brittle than steel, and steel can tolerate the stress of a more acute bend than titanium. However, even steel has limits as the gauge grows and the diameter of the bend shrinks.
Even when a large gauge ring can be made with a smaller diameter without damaging its structure, the piece is very difficult to work with. The larger the gauge, the more pressure and force is needed to bend it. A captive bead ring, for example, holds the bead in place with tension, and to remove the bead you have to widen the ring slightly to release that pressure. This can be easy to do with CBRs in small sizes, but it becomes harder to do as a ring's gauge gets larger. If the diameter of a large gauge captive ring is smaller, removing the bead becomes increasingly difficult, even with jewelry tools.
The good news is that companies are starting to incorporate heat into their manufacturing process, and they are able to create more large gauge rings with smaller diameters. They are also approaching problems with large gauge rings at the design level. For instance, a 6 gauge 5/16" ring can be made as a hinged segment ring, or clicker. Unlike captives or circular barbells that have beads and balls that need to be removed to be put on, clickers are made with a hinged closure mechanism as part of the ring. A clicker isn't held closed by simple tension in the ring, so it takes considerably less strength to open than a thick captive bead ring. As an added bonus, they also don't have separate parts that are easy to lose.
We hope this breakdown has demystified the jewelry gauge system for you. Should you still have questions, don't hesitate to reach out. Remember to follow us on all our socials @Bodyartforms.com.
