Bangle size chart (India): inches, mm and hand size

An Indian bangle size looks like a decimal but is not one. 2-4 (or 2.4) means 2 inches and 4 sixteenths of an inch across the inside. Once you know that, every size on every chart can be worked out on paper.

The full chart

Worked out by the same code as the on-screen bangle sizer, so the two always agree. The even sizes are the ones most shops stock; odd sizes are made, but less often.

Size	Inner diameter	In mm	Round the inside
2-0	2 in	50.8 mm	159.6 mm
2-1	2 1/16 in	52.4 mm	164.6 mm
2-2	2 1/8 in	54.0 mm	169.6 mm
2-3	2 3/16 in	55.6 mm	174.6 mm
2-4	2 1/4 in	57.2 mm	179.5 mm
2-5	2 5/16 in	58.7 mm	184.5 mm
2-6	2 3/8 in	60.3 mm	189.5 mm
2-7	2 7/16 in	61.9 mm	194.5 mm
2-8	2 1/2 in	63.5 mm	199.5 mm
2-9	2 9/16 in	65.1 mm	204.5 mm
2-10	2 5/8 in	66.7 mm	209.5 mm
2-11	2 11/16 in	68.3 mm	214.5 mm
2-12	2 3/4 in	69.9 mm	219.4 mm
2-13	2 13/16 in	71.4 mm	224.4 mm
2-14	2 7/8 in	73.0 mm	229.4 mm
2-15	2 15/16 in	74.6 mm	234.4 mm
3-0	3 in	76.2 mm	239.4 mm

Each step is exactly a sixteenth of an inch: 1.59 mm across, about 5 mm round the inside. That is small. A bangle you can just squeeze on and one that slides on easily are often only one size apart.

Reading the size on a tag

The same size is written several ways: 2-4, 2.4 or 2 4/16. They all mean 2¼ inches. Watch the larger sizes: written with a point, 2.10 and 2.12 look smaller than 2.8, but they are 2 and 10/16 and 2 and 12/16 inches — bigger. After 2-15 comes 3-0, not 2-16.

From your hand to a size

The last column above doubles as a hand chart. A solid bangle has to pass over your hand, so its inside circumference must be at least your hand’s circumference measured round the knuckles with the thumb tucked towards the little finger. Find the first row whose “round the inside” figure is at least your measurement:

• a hand of 176 mm needs 2-4 (179.5 mm)
• a hand of 186 mm needs 2-6 (189.5 mm) — 2-5 at 184.5 mm is too small
• a hand of 7.75 in (196.9 mm) needs 2-8 (199.5 mm)

Jewellers’ own hand tables sit within a few millimetres of this; hands squeeze a little. If you are only two or three millimetres over a size, try that size on before ruling it out. The step-by-step guide to measuring at home covers the string method and how to read a bangle you already own.

Which sizes are common

Jewellers’ guides most often name 2-4 and 2-6 as the usual women’s sizes, with 2-2 for slim hands and 2-8 and above for larger ones. Kadas run larger, usually from 2-8 upwards — see the kada size guide. None of this tells you your own size; it only tells you what is likely to be on the shelf.

Why charts disagree by a millimetre

Put CaratLane’s, BlueStone’s and Tales of Diamond’s charts side by side and the inches agree exactly, but the millimetres wobble: 2-4 appears as 57 mm, 5.7 cm and 57.2 mm. That is rounding, nothing more. The inch figure is the definition; 57.15 mm is the exact value. Where you see a bigger difference, such as a “free size” or a chart for a particular brand’s design, follow that brand’s chart for that piece.

Bangles that open

Everything above is for solid bangles and kadas. A bangle that opens on a hinge, a screw or a clasp does not pass over the hand; it closes round the wrist. For those the hand measurement does not apply — use the maker’s own chart, which will usually be smaller.

Before an expensive purchase

For gold, give the jeweller the size and the diameter in millimetres, and confirm the size in the shop if you can. If you are working out the price as well, here is how GST on gold jewellery is calculated. And if a ring is next on the list, the Indian ring size chart works on the same principle: one inside measurement, named in different ways.