How to Measure Bracelet Size (and Why Wrist Size Isn't Enough)

Your wrist measures 15 cm. That does not mean you need a 15 cm bracelet — you need something between 15.5 and 17 cm depending on style, clasp and how you like it to sit. Here is how to work out which.

Measure the wrist, not the old bracelet

Wrap a soft tape around the narrowest part of the wrist, just below the bone, snug but not tight. No tape? Use a strip of paper, mark the overlap, lay it against a ruler. Write it in centimetres — jewellery sizing is metric, and converting from inches adds rounding error at a scale where it matters.

Measure twice, at the end of the day rather than first thing: wrists swell with heat and hours. If the two numbers differ by more than 5 mm, use the larger. A bracelet slightly loose gets worn; one slightly tight does not.

Why wrist size is only a starting point

A tape measures the shortest path around the arm. A bracelet does not take the shortest path — it bridges the wrist bone, it hangs, it sits on a taper. Two people with the same 15 cm wrist can need bracelets 1.5 cm apart, because one has a flat wrist and the other a prominent bone, or because one wears it at the base of the hand and the other higher up. The wrist number is a floor. Length is wrist plus ease, and ease is where the decisions are.

What one centimetre actually feels like

People underestimate this constantly. On a wrist, 1 cm is not subtle — it is the difference between a bracelet that stays put and one that travels a third of the way up the forearm when you raise your hand.

Tennis bracelets want to be close

A tennis bracelet is a line of hinged segments with no slack in its structure, so all of its drape comes from length. At +1.5 cm the line buckles, the segments ride over each other instead of lying flat, and the stones present at an angle rather than face-up. On a 15 cm wrist, most people are happiest at 16 cm.

Chain bracelets want a little room

A cable or curb chain at +1.5 cm hangs in a shallow curve and catches light along its length. Fastened tight it lies flat and reads as a line rather than a chain. Layering two or three? Give each +1.5 cm so they sit at different heights instead of fighting in the same groove.

Cuffs and bangles measure the hand, not the wrist

Anything that goes on over the hand is not sized by circumference alone. It has to clear the widest part of the hand with the thumb tucked in — usually 1 to 2 cm more than the wrist. That number, not the wrist, decides whether the piece goes on at all.

The clasp changes the effective length

A lobster claw adds 8 to 10 mm of hardware and hangs perpendicular to the chain, so it sits lower than the chain does. A box clasp sits flush and adds almost nothing, which is why a 16 cm box-clasp bracelet feels tighter than a 16 cm lobster-clasp one. A toggle needs at least 1 cm of play to work at all — the bar has to pass through the ring. Between two sizes, take the smaller with a lobster claw and the larger with a toggle.

Why 1 cm either way flips a bracelet over

A bracelet that is too long does not just hang lower — it rotates. Gravity sinks the heaviest part, usually the clasp, to the bottom of the wrist. If the piece has a front — a charm, a stone-set section, an engraving plate — that front spends most of the day against your skin and you spend the day spinning it back around.

The fix is not to go tighter everywhere; it is to stay within about 1 cm of the right length for that specific piece. A 3 g clasp and a 0.8 g clasp behave completely differently at the same nominal size.

Test it before you commit

Cut a strip of paper to your calculated length, tape it into a loop, and wear it for an hour around the house — wash your hands, type, reach overhead. If it feels wrong as paper it will feel wrong as metal, and metal is heavier. Five minutes here prevents most sizing returns.

What we make

We have made jewellery in our own factory in Guangxi since 2008, in 925 sterling silver, 9K, 14K and 18K gold, set with GRA-certified D-colour VVS1 moissanite or IGI-certified lab-grown diamonds. Because we cut and assemble in-house rather than buying finished pieces, we can quote the finished length of a bracelet to the millimetre, clasp included, and cut it before it ships. Prices run from $17 to $2,020, with a typical piece around $98.

Free shipping over $99, $5.99 below. Returns accepted for 30 days on unworn pieces in original packaging, and we will adjust a stock bracelet's length at no charge before it goes out — put your wrist measurement and preferred ease in the order notes. Custom and engraved pieces are made to your specification and cannot be returned, so if you are unsure of your size, start with the stock version.