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Body jewelry gauge sizes can be difficult to understand and the correct size is needed to fit into the piercing. Like the AWG system for marking electrical wire sizes body jewelry sizes get bigger as the number goes down. A 20 gauge piece of jewelry is smaller than an 18 gauge. 16 gauge is smaller than 14 gauge.

Large sizes for plugs will use inch measurements. A 0 gauge is approximately 5/16". A 00 is about 3/8". From there sizes will usually be in inch format but can also be marked as 000 or 0000. Size may also be marked by using the metric system.

As not everyone is happy dealing with fraction conversions, this may help:

1/4 is the same as 2/8 or 4/16

5/16 is the next common size up from 1/4. 5/16 is smaller than 3/8 which equals 6/16.

More information can be found in my article: The most popular types of body jewelry and how to wear them