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Gauge Sizes
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The gauge is the thickness of the jewelry (Usually the thickness of the
wire the jewelry is made from but may also be the diameter of a plug or
eyelet). From 20 gauge to 00 gauge, the smaller
the number is, the thicker the jewelry is. After 00, the diameter of body
jewelry is usually measured in fractional inches as shown below. |
| Gauge |
Decimal
Inches |
Fractional
Inches |
Millimeters |
| 20 |
0.032 |
Approximately |
1/32 |
0.812 |
| 18 |
0.04 |
Larger than |
1/32 |
1.024 |
| 16 |
0.051 |
Smaller than |
1/16 |
1.291 |
| 14 |
0.064 |
Approximately |
1/16 |
1.628 |
| 12 |
0.081 |
Larger than |
1/16 |
2.053 |
| 10 |
0.102 |
Smaller than |
1/8 |
2.588 |
| 8 |
0.128 |
Approximately |
1/8 |
3.264 |
| 6 |
0.162 |
Larger than |
1/8 |
4.115 |
| 4 |
0.204 |
Smaller than |
1/4 |
5.189 |
| 2 or 1/4" |
0.258 |
Approximately |
1/4 |
6.544 |
| 0 or 5/16" |
0.325 |
Approximately |
5/16 |
8.251 |
| 00 or 3/8" |
0.365 |
Approximately |
3/8 |
9.266 |
| 000 or 7/16" |
0.410 |
|
7/16 |
11.110 |
| 0000 or 1/2" |
0.460 |
|
1/2 |
12.710 |
| 5/8" |
0.630 |
|
5/8 |
15.875 |
| 3/4" |
0.750 |
|
3/4 |
19.050 |