316L surgical steel · gauge and millimetres on every page

HQLA

Body piercing jewelry, sized in millimetres

Find a piece by gauge and millimetres

Two numbers decide whether a piece fits: how thick the wire is, and how long the bar or how wide the ring is. Both sit on every page of this catalogue. Set them here and the list below narrows to what we actually cut.

    Gauge to millimetres

    The conversion, and where each thickness lands in our line.

    GaugeMillimetresInches, roughlyWhat we cut at itPieces
    20G0.8mm0.032Nose & septum3
    18G1mm0.040Nose & septum13
    16G1.2mm0.047Nose & septum, Labret & lip25
    14G1.6mm0.063Navel, Nipple & tongue16

    The scale runs backwards, which catches people out. A 20G wire is thinner than a 14G wire, not thicker. 49 of the 89 pieces here carry a gauge; the rest are pendants, chains and gift pieces that do not pass through anything.

    Stretched sizes we cut

    The old label and the millimetre figure are the same size written two ways.

    LabelMillimetresPieces here
    2g6mm1
    0g8mm1
    00g10mm1
    1/2"12mm3
    9/16"14mm1
    5/8"16mm1
    7/8"22mm2
    1"25mm2

    Stretching an ear is work for a piercer, not for a shopping page. What we can tell you is which sizes we cut and what each label means in millimetres.

    What we make it from

    Counted across the whole catalogue.

    MaterialPiecesSections it turns up in
    316L surgical steel39Navel, Nose & septum, Labret & lip, Nipple & tongue
    Gold plated steel22Cartilage, Holiday
    Surgical steel12Navel, Labret & lip, Cartilage
    Natural obsidian6Plugs & tunnels
    Sterling silver4Cartilage, Holiday
    Silicone2Plugs & tunnels
    Acrylic2Plugs & tunnels
    Green jade2Plugs & tunnels

    Reading the numbers

    Which number is the gauge

    It is the one written with a G after it, like 16G or 14G. It describes the thickness of the wire, and the scale runs backwards: 20G is 0.8mm and 14G is 1.6mm, so the larger number is the thinner metal.

    Which number is the length

    It is the millimetre figure. On a straight or curved bar it is the wearable span between the two ends. On a hoop or a clicker it is the inner diameter, measured across the clearance rather than the outside of the wire.

    I do not know my gauge

    Ask the piercer who did the work. They fitted the original jewelry and will know the number. Guessing from a photograph is how people end up with a bar that will not pass through.

    Why are some pieces missing a gauge

    Because they are not pierced fittings. The pendants, chains and most of the holiday run go on a neck or through an existing lobe hole, so a gauge would be meaningless there.

    What do the plug labels mean

    Stretched sizes carry two names. The old scale runs 2g, 0g, 00g and then jumps to fractions of an inch. We print both that label and the millimetre figure on every plug page, because they are the same thing said twice.