Your Guide To Piercing Jewellery Gauges
Your new piercing has just healed, and you're so excited to get some brand-new jewellery to go in it! But hang on, what size gauge did the piercer say fits in that particular piercing hole? Was it 16 gauge or 18 gauge? It can be hard to remember all the info about piercing jewellery gauges after you've just had a needle or two poked through you.
No need to worry - we've all been in that same boat here at Tragic HQ. With our recent launch of Impaler Jewellery, we wanted to make things nice and easy for you with a guide to help you find your piercing gauges, to make finding that perfect piece of body jewellery that bit easier!
What is a piercing gauge?
Body jewellery is measured in several ways, one of the most important being the gauge. The gauge indicates the thickness of the jewellery itself. Interestingly (and surprisingly), the higher the gauge number, the thinner the jewellery, while a lower gauge number means the jewellery is thicker. Piercing jewellery comes in a wide variety of sizes, typically ranging from 22 gauge (very thin) to 00 gauge (very thick!!).
However, when it comes to your every day piercing jewellery gauges, you'll find while either getting pierced or shopping for body jewellery - the most common gauge sizes range from 14 gauge to 20 gauge.
Let's start from the smallest gauge and work our way back!
20 Gauge
There are very few places that you'll be pierced that you'll require 20 gauge piercing jewellery for! First off, nostril piercings! When we say nostril, we mean either side of the nose - this does not include septum piercings, although you may find 18 gauge body jewellery may also be a fit. The other place you'll be putting 20 gauge body jewellery in is your ear lobe! However, lobes pierced with a needle and not a cartridge or 'piercing gun' may also fit 18 gauge jewellery.
If you're unsure of whether your ears were pierced with a needle or cartridge, we recommend speaking to your local piercer to check.
Check out our range of 20 gauge piercing jewellery by Impaler here.
18 Gauge
You'll find that while looking at body jewellery that 18 gauge is one of the most frequently used piercing jewellery gauges! An 18G can be worn in your nose, ears (pierced with a needle), and cartilage piercings including helix, forward helix, tragus, rook, conch and daith. However, you will find that these piercings will be more than likely able to host 16 gauge piercing jewellery as well!
Check out our range of 18 gauge piercing jewellery by Impaler here.
16 Gauge
As the gauge sizes get bigger (I know, it's still confusing that the numbers get smaller as the gauge gets bigger) we move on to 16 gauge, which is used in not only some of the cartilage piercings featured in the 18 gauge category including helix, forward helix, tragus, rook, conch and daith - 16 gauge is also commonly used for industrial (sometimes referred to us scaffold) piercings. 16 gauge moves us into the arena of facial piercings including - eyebrow piercings, industrial, monroe piercings, cheek, labret & lips and septum. Much like the 18 & 16 gauge, some of these piercings will also accommodate a14 gauge piercing jewellery.
Check out our range of 16 gauge piercing jewellery by Impaler here.
14 Gauge
The last most commonly used piercing gauge is a 14! As mentioned earlier, some piercings that fit a 16 gauge may also fit a 14 gauge, this includes septum piercings, cheeks, eyebrows, labret & lips. Besides these piercings, a 14 gauge will be used for nipple, tongue and belly piercings.
Check out our range of 14 gauge piercing jewellery by Impaler here.
We hope our guide has helped you with finding your correct piercing gauge! Still confused or unsure on what the right jewellery is for your piercings? Shoot us an email to support@tragicbeautiful.com so we can help you find your perfect body jewellery!
