Bangle and Cuff Size Guide: How to Measure and Buy One That Fits

Short answer: a solid bangle has to fit over your hand, so measure your hand, not your wrist. Tuck your thumb in, wrap a tape around the widest part of your hand across the knuckles, and divide by 3.14 for the inside diameter. Cuffs and hinged bangles open up, so those are sized to your wrist instead. When you’re buying secondhand, ask for the inside diameter.

You find the perfect vintage bangle, it arrives, and it stops dead at your knuckles. (Or it slides right off the second you lower your arm.) Bangle sizing trips up almost everyone the first time, because the number that matters isn’t the one you’d guess. The good news is it takes about two minutes and a piece of string to get right.

How do you measure for a bangle?

A solid bangle has no clasp, so it has to slide over the widest part of your hand. That means your wrist measurement is almost useless here (sorry). Instead, bring your thumb in toward your little finger, the way your hand folds when you slip a bangle on, and wrap a soft tape measure or a piece of string around the widest part, across the knuckles. That number is the inside circumference you need. Divide it by 3.14 to get the inside diameter, which is how most bangles are sold. If you land between two sizes, most sizing guides say to go up.

Already own a bangle that fits well? Even easier. Lay it flat and measure straight across the inside, edge to edge through the center, without counting the thickness of the metal. That inside diameter is your size.

What do bangle sizes like 2-6 mean?

You’ll see these a lot, especially on Indian bangles and anything listed by a seller who knows bangles well. The size is the inside diameter in inches, and the number after the dash counts sixteenths of an inch. So 2-6 is 2 and 6/16 inches. Here’s the standard chart (shops round the millimeters a little differently):

Small, medium, and large, on the other hand, mean whatever the brand says they mean. Tiffany, for example, sizes bracelets by the wrist they’re meant to fit, while Cartier sizes its Love bracelet by inside circumference and suggests adding 1 to 2 centimeters to your wrist measurement. So when a listing just says “medium,” ask for the actual inside measurement.

How should a cuff fit?

A cuff has a gap, so it goes on sideways at the narrowest part of your wrist instead of over your hand. That makes it a wrist measurement: wrap the tape where you’ll actually wear it, and compare that to the cuff’s inside measurement plus its gap.

The one thing not to do is pry it open every time. Jewelers who repair cuffs say the constant bending to get them on and off is exactly what makes them crack, so roll a cuff on and off through the gap instead. If one is a little loose or snug, a jeweler can adjust it once, properly, which is much kinder to old metal than squeezing it at home every morning.

What about hinged and oval bangles?

A hinged bangle opens on one side and closes with a clasp, so it never has to get over your hand. Size it to your wrist, like a cuff. Oval bangles are a little trickier because they have two inside measurements: the long one has to clear your hand, and the short one decides how the bangle sits on your wrist. Ask for both.

What should you ask before buying a bangle secondhand?

Vintage bangles rarely come with a size, and listings mix up diameter and circumference all the time (an “inside circumference of 7 inches” is only about 2.2 inches across). So ask for the inside diameter, or both inside measurements if it’s oval. For a cuff, ask for the inside measurement and the width of the gap. The band width and the metal are worth knowing too. To convert between the two numbers, multiply the diameter by 3.14 to get the circumference, or divide the circumference by 3.14 to get the diameter.

Selling one? Put the inside diameter right in the listing and you will save yourself (and your buyer) a lot of back and forth. If you’re shopping, browse bracelets on StillSparkly, and our ring size guide uses the same string trick for your fingers.

Sources

• Tiffany & Co.: bracelet size guide
• Cartier: Love bracelet sizing
• Ganoksin Orchid (jewelers’ forum): cuff bracelet repair