If you’ve ever wondered how to measure your body piercing jewellery so you can replace it with something new and exciting, here’s our easy guide to sizing your body jewellery.
How do I know what size my body jewellery is?
If you’re looking to change your body piercing jewellery you will need to know the correct size to order. But don’t worry it’s very straight forward!
You will need 2 measurements, the gauge and the length. Both measurements should be in millimetres.
What’s the ‘gauge’ of my body jewellery?
The gauge of body jewellery is the thickness of the bar or ring. Generally the smallest gauge is 0.8mm with large gauge jewellery going up to 12mm and beyond. Navel jewellery and tongue bars are usually 1.6mm gauge.
It’s quite difficult to measure the gauge (thickness) of your body jewellery with a ruler, particularly the smaller sizes. The easiest way is to use a vernier measuring gauge or ask your local piercer as they will be able to tell, just by looking.
How do I measure the length of my barbell or straight bar?
Measure the space between the balls of your bar; so looking at your barbell, it’s the space from the bottom edge of the top ball to the top edge of the bottom ball.
Don’t take the balls off to measure your bar as you will then include the length of the thread (the bit the balls screw on to) and this thread can be a different length in each type of piercing jewellery.
How do I measure the length of my belly bar or curved bar?
It’s the same as measuring a barbell; see above, with the following exceptions;
Measure the space between the balls in a straight line “as the crow flies”, as they say! So don’t measure the bent bar itself, just the space between the two balls.
How do I measure the size of my BCR or body piercing ring?
You are looking for the internal diameter of your ring. So just measure the space between the inner edges of your ring. An easy way to do this is to put you ring on a piece of paper and use it to draw a circle on the inside, then measure how wide it is.
If you are wearing your ring it’s probably best to either use a vernier measuring gauge or ask your local piercer.
What if I order the wrong size of body jewellery?
It’s worth taking the time to properly measure your piercing jewellery as it’s unlikely you will be able to return or exchange it if you buy the wrong size.
With TDi Body Jewellery you can return your body jewellery if it’s still sealed in the bag it was sent in. So check before you open!
Replacing Your Piercing Jewellery
Please remember to clean your replacement body jewellery before you put it in. The easiest way to do this in to fill a cup of boiling water, add a little salt (so now you’ve got a saline solution) and pop your jewellery in for a few minutes. Remember to let it cool down before touching!
New body piercing, new jewellery – check the size!
It’s always a good idea to ask your piercer what size the jewellery in your new piercing is. Write it down somewhere you will remember, and then it’s easy to check what size you need for your replacement body jewellery.
Here’s a handy body jewellery gauge sizing chart to help you convert your piercing jewellery from US to UK/Europe gauges, millimetres and inches!
