How to measure your wrist for a beaded bracelet
Wrap a strip of paper around your wrist, just past the wrist bone towards the hand. Mark where it meets itself, lay it flat against a ruler, and order that number. Do not add anything for ease. We string to the measurement you give and the elastic does the rest.
Why you should not add half an inch
Most sizing guides tell you to add a quarter or a half inch for comfort. Those guides are written for rigid bangles and for chain, where the clasp has to clear the hand.
A beaded bracelet on elastic is different. The stretch is already built in. Add half an inch to a strung piece and it sits loose, slides over the wrist bone, and the beads knock against each other every time you move. Give us the plain measurement and it sits where it should.
Doing it without a tape measure
A strip of paper and a ruler beats a tailor's tape, because a tape stretches and a strip does not.
Cut a strip about half an inch wide from a sheet of ordinary paper. Wrap it round the wrist you will wear the piece on, snug but not pulling the skin. Mark the overlap with a pen, unwrap it, and measure from the end to the mark. That is your size in inches.
Measure twice, at two different times of day. Wrists swell a little in heat and late in the day, and the larger of the two readings is the one to send.
The sizes we string, and what they suit
Bracelets are strung at 6 in, 6.5 in, 7 in, 7.5 in and 8 in. The first three carry no extra charge, 7.5 in adds a dollar and 8 in adds two, because they take more stone.
6 in and 6.5 in fit most children and smaller adult wrists. 7 in is the most common adult size. 7.5 in and 8 in suit larger wrists and anyone who likes a piece to sit lower on the hand.
Stacking sets are strung at 6.5 in, 7 in and 7.5 in, and every strand in a set is the same size.
Buying for somebody else
If it is a gift and you cannot measure them, 7 in is the safest adult size and 6.5 in the safest size for a child of about eight to twelve.
If it turns out wrong, send it back within 14 days and we will restring it to a corrected size for the cost of postage alone. That is set out in Refunds and Cancellations, and it applies once per piece.
Bead size changes how it sits
Every stone we carry is strung at 8mm, so a 7 in bracelet in amazonite sits the same as a 7 in bracelet in lava rock.
What does change the feel is the spacer. Daisy spacers and silver rondelles take up a little of the length with metal rather than stone, which makes a piece sit marginally more loosely. If you are between two sizes and want spacers, take the smaller.
Questions people ask
Should I measure the wrist I write with?
Measure the wrist you will wear it on. For most people the dominant wrist is a touch larger, so measuring the wrong one can put you half a size out.
What if I am between two sizes?
Take the smaller one if you want it to sit close to the wrist bone, and the larger if you like a piece to move. With spacers, take the smaller.
Can you restring a bracelet I already own?
Yes, if it came from this bench. Write to [email protected] and tell us what you have and the new measurement.
Written at the bench in Hagerstown, Maryland. Questions go to [email protected].