Bracelet Sizes Guide: How do bracelets sizes work?

Are you always worried about buying bracelets online? There are issues with quality and delivery times. But one of the biggest issues I personally find is knowing my bracelet sizes! Am I a small, medium, large – What does this even mean and how do bracelet sizes work? Thankfully we created this ultimate bracelet sizes guide, so you never have to wear a loose or super tight bracelet ever again!

You might also want to read our necklace length guide for finding the right necklace sizes.

(This bracelet sizes guide is based on UK sizes – Sizes may vary internationally.)

Average Bracelet Sizes

Bracelet sizes can vary, but in general, 7 inches (or around 18 cm) is the standard bracelet size for women. While for men, the average bracelet size would be somewhere between 7.5 to 9 inches.

Most jewellers sell their jewellery based on generic sizes, such as small, medium and large instead of exact measurements in inches or centimetres. In this case, you will need to know what each of these general bracelet sizes means. This table shows the average bracelet sizes in inches and cms:

Because bracelet sizes can vary, please remember to check the size charts on your jeweller’s website or in store for exact measurements.

The problem with following average bracelet sizes is that they are likely to be the wrong size for you. That’s why it is important to measure your own wrist at home or by a professional jeweller to find out your personal bracelet size.

You can measure your bracelet size at home using the following method:

1. Using a flexible measuring tape, measure your wrist below the wrist bone. The place where your bracelet would normally be worn.
2. Write down your wrist measurement.
3. Add between ¼ to 1 inch to the measurement you just wrote down. 
4. If you want a tight fit, add ¼ inch. If you want a loose fit, add 1 inch or add ½ an inch for somewhere in between.

Measuring bracelet sizes is not always as straightforward as the instructions provided above. For example, some bracelets are designed to be worn loosely. These types of bracelets come in larger sizes compared to the average bracelet sizes mentioned above and vice versa.

For this reason, we’ll go through different types of bracelets and their standard sizes to ensure a more accurate measurement. 

Bracelet Cuff Sizes

A bracelet cuff or cuff bracelets are designed to rest at the end of your wrist. Because they are worn very low on the wrist, they need to be tight enough to stay in place with little or no movement.

Bracelet cuff sizes are designed to be much smaller than the average sizes, due to their snug fit on your wrist. Here is a typical size chart for cuff bracelets for women:

Most cuff bracelets are adjustable so you can wear them loose or tight. However, a few cuffs made from heavy or thick materials may not be adjustable. It is important to read the bracelet description carefully before buying to see if your cuff bracelet can be adjusted.

If you want to measure your bracelet cuff size at home, you can follow this method:

1. Use a flexible measuring tape to measure your wrist. Place the measuring tape wherever you expect to wear the cuff bracelet. 
2. The measuring tape should fit snugly around your wrist. Make sure it is not too tight, so you are not squeezing your wrist.
3. Write this number down somewhere. This number would be the same as the inside circumstance of the cuff bracelet, including the gap.
4. Now you can find your size by matching this number against the cuff bracelet size chart above.

Adjustable cuff bracelets can be opened and closed up to about ¼ inches smaller or larger than the assigned measurement on the size chart above.

Bangle Bracelet Sizes

Bangle bracelet sizes can be difficult to measure, as unlike the cuff bracelets they have no gap in them to put your wrist through. This means they have to fit through your hands before they reach your wrists. This makes their average sizes higher than cuff bracelets.

Bangles are traditionally worn loosely on the wrist and must fit through your hands. For this reason, the measuring technique is slightly different compared to other bracelets.

To measure your bangle bracelet size at home, use this method:

1. Squeeze together one of your hands. Ideally, you should tuck your thumb under your palm and squeeze your other fingers together.
2. With a flexible measuring tape, measure around the widest area of your hand. This will be your knuckles and the place where your bangles will have to go past to fit.
3. Write down the measurement on a paper.
4. For additional comfort, you might want to add 2 – 2.5cm to this measurement. 
5. Now match this measurement to the size chart below.

The average bangle bracelet size for most women is medium (around 7.87 inches). However, this can greatly vary. Here is a size chart for bangle bracelets to give you an idea:

A nice fitting bangle should glide past your hands and fit loosely on your wrist. But it should never slide off your hands. As a tip, you can use oil or butter to make it easier to fit on tightly fitting bangles. 

Tennis bracelet sizes

Tennis bracelets are the easiest to measure. The bracelet size doesn’t matter so much as most tennis bracelets can easily be adjusted by moving the link around. Saying that, you still might want to measure your wrists to get a perfectly fitting bracelet.

The average tennis bracelet size for most women is between 7 to 7.5 inches. To find out your tennis bracelet size you can use the following method:

1. Measure around your wrist with a flexible tape measure. Keep the measurement snug, but not too tight.
2. Write your measurement down somewhere.
3. Now add between ½ to 1 inch to your measurement. For example, if your wrist measured 7 inches, you might want to go with a tennis bracelet size of 7.5 to 8 inches. 

Here is a typical tennis bracelet size chart for your reference:

When it comes to buying a tennis bracelet, don’t worry too much about the exact size. Just focus on the style, look and feel! 

Double wrap bracelet chart

Double wrap bracelets are a unique type of bracelet, in which you can wrap one really big bracelet around your wrist multiple times. When buying a double wrap bracelet online remember the size is going to be huge compared to other bracelets types, as they are designed to be wrapped around your wrist.

This double wrap bracelet chart illustrates the various sizes for double wrap bracelets in centimetres:

To get your measurement for a double wrap bracelet, simply follow these steps:

1. Measure your wrist using a flexible tape measure. Ensure you measure from the area where the bracelet will be placed.
2. Write this number down somewhere. 
3. Compare your wrist size measurement with the size chart above to find your double wrap bracelet size.

Most double wrap bracelets are made from leather, which expands over time. Normally for these type of bracelets, you can adjust the fit to make them tighter or looser. 

Stretch bracelet sizes

Stretch bracelets are elasticated so they can be stretched to fit almost all wrist sizes. Depending on the weight of the material and the cord inside the bracelet the stretch can vary vastly. To avoid stretch bracelets from snapping, the right size could make a huge difference.

With most stretch bracelets sizes, one size may fit all. But if you want to avoid getting a floppy stretch bracelet, take a look at this size chart:

Stretch bracelets are designed to be worn quite tightly on the wrist, so there is no movement. So whatever your wrist measurement is, your stretch bracelet size will be pretty much the same.

Anklet Bracelet Sizes

Anklet bracelet sizes vary, as they can be worn loosely, tightly or with the exact fit depending on style. A general rule of thumb is that most anklet bracelets hang just below the ankle bone. Any looser and you’ll keep tripping over them.

The get the right anklet bracelet size for yourself, use this method:

1. Wrap a flexible tape measure around your ankle. This should be around your ankle bone.
2. Write this measurement down.
3. Compare this measurement with the anklet size chart below.

This chart should help you figure out your perfect anklet size:

This anklet size chart might look a little complicated, so here are the basic rules of anklet bracelet sizes to follow:

• Tight Fit: Add 0.8cm to your ankle measurement
• Exact fit: Add 2 cm to your ankle measurement
• Loose fit: Add 3 cm to your ankle measurement

Now you can go for any anklet style you want!