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Earring gauge chart · No sign-up

20g is thinner than 18g.

The gauge scale runs backwards, which is why people order the wrong size. Every gauge below is drawn at its real diameter — hold an earring you already own against the screen and find the match.

Step 1. Calibrate the screen — or reuse the scale from another tool here.

Screen scale: — CSS pixels per mm

Step 2. Hold the post of an earring you already own against each circle. Every one below is drawn at its true physical size.

Your gauge

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Length is a separate number.Gauge is how thick the bar is; length is how far it spans. Both appear in a listing, and either can be wrong on its own.

Why the numbers run backwards

The gauge scale counts manufacturing steps rather than thickness. It comes from wire drawing, where the number recorded how many times a wire had been pulled through progressively smaller dies. More passes meant thinner wire and a higher number.

The convention outlived the reason for it, so a 20g post is thinner than an 18g one, which is thinner than 16g. Nothing about the number tells you that, and it catches people out constantly — which is the entire reason this page draws the sizes instead of listing them.

How to find yours

  1. 01

    Calibrate the screen

    Match a bank card, a coin from your own currency or a folded sheet of paper against the outline. Without this the circles below are drawn at whatever size your display happens to make them, which is no use for comparison.

  2. 02

    Hold a post against the circles

    Take an earring you already wear and hold the post against each circle until one matches. Every circle is drawn at its true physical diameter, so the one that matches is your gauge — no measuring, no reading a scale.

  3. 03

    Check the length separately

    Gauge is how thick the bar is. Length is how far it spans, and it's a different number that's just as often wrong. Both appear in a listing and both have to be right.

Gauge to millimetres chart

Thinnest at the top. The millimetre figures are the conventional trade values that jewellery is actually manufactured to, rather than the unrounded wire-gauge numbers they derive from.

Earring and body jewellery gauge converted to millimetres and inches, with typical uses
GaugeMillimetresInchesCommonly used for
22g0.6 mm0.024″Fine nose studs, some delicate earrings
20g0.8 mm0.031″The usual standard earring post; nostril
18g1 mm0.039″Common for cartilage and upper lobe
16g1.2 mm0.047″Helix, tragus, eyebrow, septum
14g1.6 mm0.063″Navel, industrial, tongue
12g2 mm0.079″Larger lobe, some septum
10g2.4 mm0.094″Stretched lobe
8g3.2 mm0.126″Stretched lobe
6g4 mm0.157″Stretched lobe
4g5 mm0.197″Stretched lobe
2g6 mm0.236″Stretched lobe
0g8 mm0.315″Stretched lobe
00g10 mm0.394″Stretched lobe; the largest common gauge

Post and bar lengths

A separate measurement from gauge, and just as often the thing that's wrong.

  • 5 mm — Snug lobe studs; thin lobes
  • 6 mm — The most common lobe stud length
  • 8 mm — Thicker lobes, cartilage, most hoops' inner diameter starting point
  • 10 mm — Cartilage with swelling allowance; navel curves
  • 12 mm — Industrial and longer barbells

Earring gauge questions

What gauge is a standard earring?
20g for most standard lobe piercings, which is 0.8 mm. Some studios pierce at 18g (1.0 mm), and 18g is more common for cartilage and upper-lobe placements. If you're replacing an earring you already own, matching it against the true-scale circles above is more reliable than assuming, because studios differ.
Why does a higher gauge number mean a thinner earring?
Because the scale counts drawing steps, not thickness. It comes from wire manufacturing, where the number recorded how many times a wire was pulled through progressively smaller dies — more passes meant thinner wire and a higher number. The convention stuck, so 20g is thinner than 18g, which is thinner than 16g. It's counterintuitive and it's the single most common reason people order the wrong size.
How do I convert earring gauge to millimetres?
22g is 0.6 mm, 20g is 0.8 mm, 18g is 1.0 mm, 16g is 1.2 mm, 14g is 1.6 mm, 12g is 2.0 mm, 10g is 2.4 mm, 8g is 3.2 mm, 6g is 4.0 mm, 4g is 5.0 mm, 2g is 6.0 mm, 0g is 8.0 mm and 00g is 10.0 mm. Beyond 00g the trade stops using gauge numbers entirely and sells by millimetre or fractional inch. The full chart with inches is further down this page.
Can I measure an earring gauge on my screen?
For the thicker sizes, yes. For the thin end, treat it as a starting point. Gauges from 22g to 18g are only 0.2 mm apart, which on a typical phone works out at roughly one pixel — the display physically cannot show you the difference reliably. That's why this page asks you to match against circles rather than read a measurement, and why it tells you when your screen can't resolve the sizes apart.
What is the difference between gauge and length?
Gauge is the thickness of the bar or post. Length is how far it spans — 6 mm is the most common for a lobe stud, 8 mm for thicker lobes and cartilage, 10 mm where swelling has to be allowed for. A listing gives both, and getting one right doesn't help if the other is wrong. They're independent measurements.
Are earring gauge sizes the same everywhere?
The gauge numbers are consistent across body jewellery, but the millimetre figures are conventional trade values rather than a formal standard, so a maker may be a hundredth or two off the number quoted here. That tolerance doesn't matter at these sizes. What does matter is that some regions, particularly in Europe, sell by millimetre only — in which case use the millimetre column and ignore the gauge number entirely.

This page covers measurement only. Questions about getting pierced, stretching, or whether a piercing has healed are for a professional piercer — a sizing tool isn't in a position to answer them, and shouldn't pretend otherwise.

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