Bracelet and anklet sizes

The hand comes first

Slide a solid bangle onto your arm and notice where it catches. Not at the wrist, which it was bought to fit, but at the knuckles, a few centimetres further on. A rigid circle has to pass over the widest part of the hand before it ever reaches the place it will sit.

That small fact explains most of bracelet sizing. A chain bracelet opens, fastens and only ever meets the wrist. A bangle has to be sized for the hand. A cuff has an opening at the back and slips on sideways. And an anklet sits on a joint that can swell a little after a long day. Each one is measured in its own way, and none of them follows a single national standard. Every jeweller publishes its own chart, and the charts don't always agree.

Measuring a wrist

You need a soft tape measure, or a piece of string or ribbon and a ruler.

1. Wrap the tape or string around the wrist where the bracelet will sit. Cartier recommends measuring the thickest part of the wrist, usually the wrist joint, for a comfortable fit.
2. Keep it snug against the skin, but not tight.
3. If you are using string, mark the point where the end meets it, then lay it flat against a ruler.
4. Write the measurement down in millimetres if you can. It is the more precise unit, and many size charts use it.

Two details catch people out. First, measure the wrist you will actually wear it on: your left and right wrists differ slightly in size. Second, measure the wrist itself rather than a bracelet you already own. Cartier advises this for the most accurate result. A bracelet you own may have been made to sit snugly or loosely, so its length is only half the story.

How much room to add

A bracelet exactly the size of your wrist would pinch. Every size guide adds something, and the amount depends on how you like it to sit. There is no agreed standard, so the figures below are rules of thumb from three published guides. They are close enough to show the pattern, and different enough to show why you should always check the chart for the piece you are buying.

Cartier's figures apply to one design, a rigid bangle that screws shut, and the company notes that its usual sizing rules differ for it. Even so, the three guides land in much the same place: roughly 1 cm for a close fit and about 2 cm for an easy one. If you like a bracelet that moves and catches the light, sit at the loose end. If you want it to stay put under a cuff, stay at the snug end.

Chunky links, charms and beads take up some of that room on the inside, so a heavy or well-loaded bracelet usually needs a little more allowance than a fine chain. Treat this as a rule of thumb rather than a measurement.

Chains, bangles and cuffs

The three main kinds of bracelet are sized in different ways, because they go on in different ways.

• Chain bracelets open at a clasp, so only the wrist matters. Measure, add room for the fit you like, and choose the nearest length. Many are sold with a short extender chain, which gives you a little leeway. For the fastenings themselves, see Clasp types explained, and for the links, Chain styles explained.
• Solid bangles have no opening, so they have to clear the knuckles. They are sized by the hand, not the wrist, and they hang more loosely as a result.
• Hinged bangles open before they reach the hand, so they can be sized closer to the wrist.
• Cuffs have a gap at the back and are slipped on from the side of the wrist. One jeweller's guide advises choosing the cuff size closest to your wrist measurement, and notes that wider pieces tend to fit more snugly than slim ones. Cuffs can usually be eased a little to fit, but don't bend one back and forth repeatedly unless its maker says that is safe.

Sizing a bangle

There are two ways to size a solid bangle, and both avoid the wrist entirely.

• Measure your hand. Bring your fingers together and fold your thumb in towards your little finger, as if you were about to slip a bangle on. Wrap the tape around the widest part of the hand, over the knuckles and the thumb joint, without squeezing. Take it more than once and use the largest steady reading. That gives you the inside circumference you need.
• Measure a bangle that fits. Lay it on a ruler and measure straight across the inside, from inner edge to inner edge, leaving out the thickness of the metal. That gives you the inside diameter. If it might be slightly oval, measure across it a second way as well.

To turn a diameter into a circumference, multiply by 3.14. If you fall between two sizes for a solid bangle, choose the larger one: a slightly loose bangle can still be worn, and one that won't pass your knuckles can't.

Indian bangle sizes, which you will often see written as 2-4, 2-6 or 2-8, look puzzling until you read them as inches. The first figure is whole inches and the second is sixteenths, measured across the inside. So 2-8 is 2 and 8/16 inches, which is 2½ inches or 63.5 mm, and 2-4 is 2¼ inches, or 57.2 mm. Western jewellers tend to give bangle sizes as an inside circumference or as small, medium and large instead, so check which one a chart is using before you compare.

Anklets

An anklet is measured like a chain bracelet, only lower down. Wrap a soft tape or string around the ankle where the anklet will sit, which for most people is just above the ankle bone, though some guides measure over the bone itself. Then add room. One jeweller's guide suggests about half an inch to an inch (roughly 1.3 to 2.5 cm), depending on how loosely you want it to hang.

As a starting point, a common anklet length for women is about 23 to 25 cm (9 to 10 inches), and the range jewellers sell runs from about 8 to 11 inches. A little slack lets an anklet drape, but too much and it can slide down towards the heel.

Ankles also change size more than wrists do. The NHS lists standing or sitting in the same position for too long, and pregnancy, among the common causes of swollen ankles, and says the swelling should go away on its own. If an anklet that usually fits starts to feel tight, take it off. If the swelling doesn't settle, or comes with other symptoms, the NHS advice is to speak to a GP or call 111.

Children's bracelets

There is no shared standard for children's bracelet sizes. Children's jewellers publish charts by age, but they don't agree with each other, and children of the same age vary a great deal. Measure the child's wrist in the same way as an adult's and add a little room, rather than going by age.

Back to the hand

So the bangle that catches at the knuckles is not too small at all. It is doing exactly what a solid circle of metal has to do. Measure the hand for a bangle, the wrist for a chain, the ankle for an anklet, and add a centimetre or two for the way you like to wear it. Then check the maker's own chart, because in bracelets, unlike rings, every jeweller is still counting in its own way.