Weights, Lengths and MeasurementsListed below are a number of graphs and information to help in your beading journey.
Mass You may come across a supplier of beads that will offer a price per mass. A mass is equal to 1200 pieces.
Gross Or it may be in price per gross. A gross is equal to 144 pieces.
Troy WeightTroy weight was developed in the medieval town of Troyes, France.
You will hear of troy weight generally in reference to the weight for selling precious metal (silver and gold).
A Troy ounce is equal to approximately 31.1grams.
Wire GaugesWire Gauges - The larger the number, the smaller the diameter of the wire.
26g - extra fine – can be used for very small and delicate projects and can be crocheted with carefully.
24g - fine – use for pearls & most gemstones - easy to work with and used for crochet work and wire wrapping.
22g - medium – commonly used for glass beads, gemstones and some pearls, wire wrapping.
20g - medium heavy – when making your own, use for ear wires, clasps or larger beads, wire wrapping, and jig work.
18g - heavy - often good for making your own jumprings, chainmaille, or jig work.
16g - heavy – can be used as a base to wrap finer wires around, for flattening in wire work
14g - heavy – can be used as a base to wrap finer wire around, for flattening with a nylon hammer for wire work.
12g - very heavy - hard to work with, good for rings and buckles
Gauge is the most used measurement of wire thickness.
The thicker the wire the smaller the number.
Approximate gauge to metric conversion:
12ga = 2.0mm 14ga = 1.6mm 16ga = 1.3mm 18ga = 1mm 20ga = 0.8mm
22ga = 0.6mm 24ga = 0.5mm 26ga = 0.4mm 28ga = 0.3mm 30ga = 0.2mm
Imperial to MetricInches to Millimetres
Inches Millimetres
1/16 in. 1.5mm
1/8 in. 3mm
1/4 in 6mm
3/8 in 9mm
1/2 in 12mm
5/8 in 15mm / 1.5cm
3/4 in 18.5mm
7/8 in 22mm / 2.2cm
1 in 25mm / 2.5cm
1 ft .30m
3 ft .91m
3.28 ft 1.0m
9.84 ft 3.0m
2.20lb 1 kg
Number of Beads per inch.Beads Per Inch
Bead Size Per Inch 7" 16" 24" 32" 36"
3mm 8.25 57 132 200 265 288
4mm 6.25 43 100 150 200 225
5mm 5.00 35 82 124 160 180
6mm 4.25 28 67 100 132 153
7mm 3.50 24 57 85 114 126
8mm 3.25 22 50 75 100 112
10mm 2.50 18 40 60 80 90
12mm 2.00 15 33 50 66 72
14mm 1.75 13 29 43 56 63
Wire Size ChartB & S Gauge Decimal Millimeter
12 .0811 2.06
14 .0630 1.60
16 .0512 1.30
18 .0394 1.0
20 .0323 .82
22 .0252 .64
24 .0197 .50
26 .0157 .40
28 .0118 .30
Needle Size Bead SizeSize 10 Matsuno and Delica Beads Size 11, Czech Seed Beads Size 11
Size 12 Matsuno and Delica Beads Size 11, Czech Seed Beads Size 11
Size 13 Toho Size 15, Czech Seed Beads Size 13 and larger
Common Lengths for Jewelry Length in Inches Lengths in Centimetres
Bracelet 7.5” 19cm/190mm
Anklet 9” 3cm/230mm
Choker 16” 40cm/400mm
Princess 18” 45cm/450mm
Matinee 20”-24” 50-60cm
Opera 28”-32” 71cm
Rope 40”-45” 101-114cm
Lariat 48” 122cm
Japanese Seed Beads per inch/2.5cmJapanese Seed beads- approx
size 11 = 16 beads per inch/2.5cm
size 8 = 12 beads per inch/2.5cm
size 6 = 8 beads per inch/2.5cm
Contemporary Seed Bead Sizing Bead Size Converted to mm
6/0 3.3mm
7/0 2.9mm
8/0 2.5mm
9/0 2.2mm
10/0 2.0mm
11/0 1.8mm
12/0 1.7mm
13/0 1.5mm
14/0 1.4mm
15/0 1.3mm
16/0 1.2mm
18/0 1.1mm
20/0 1.0mm
Number of Beads Needed Bead Size 2mm 4mm 6mm 8mm 10mm 12mm 14mm 16mm 18mm
7.5”
Bracelet 96 47 32 25 19 15 14 12 10
16”
Choker 203 100 68 52 40 32 28 24 20
18”
Princess 229 113 76 59 45 36 32 27 23
20”
Matinee 254 125 85 65 50 40 35 30 25
28”
Opera 356 175 119 91 70 56 49 42 35
40”
Rope 508 250 170 130 100 80 70 60 50
48”
Lariat 610 300 204 156 120 96 84 72 60
