Open hoops: the top and the drop.
- Top
- The width of the piece that sits in front of your lobe.
- Drop
- The distance from the piercing to the bottom of the curve.
- Opening
- The gap at the front, between the top and the end of the curve.
- Wire
- How thick the wire is.
One piece, front to back: the top sits in front, the wire curves under the lobe, and there is no separate back.
Once our calipers and scale have measured the samples, every open hoop's page lists its top, its drop, its opening, its wire and the weight of the pair, each in millimeters or grams, each with a plain translation.
How it sits:
Where the hoop sits depends on how far your piercing is from the edge of the lobe. Here is how to measure it.
How to measure your piercing
You need a millimeter ruler and a mirror. A second person helps.
- Find your piercing. Hold the ruler flat against the front of your lobe, with zero at the center of the piercing.
- Read the distance straight down to the edge of your lobe. Write it down in millimeters.
- Do the same for each piercing you want to fill. Each one can be different.
Each open hoop's page gives its drop in millimeters once our calipers have measured it.
Huggies: inside and outside.
A hinged huggie. The closure is built into the hoop.
Once our calipers have measured the samples, each huggie's page gives its inside size, with the outside beside it.
The inside is the space your lobe passes through. The outside, the number we call "across", is how big it looks on your ear.
How to match a huggie you already own:
Lay it flat on a ruler. Read across the outside, edge to edge, and match that number to the "across" size on our huggie's page once our calipers have measured it.
How it sits:
Where a huggie sits depends on how far your piercing is from the edge of the lobe. Measure it the same way as for an open hoop.
A set holds more than one piece, so its page gives a size line for each piece, in ear order, lowest piercing first.
The dime table.
A dime is 17.91 mm across, 1.35 mm thick and weighs 2.268 g (US Mint). Every translation in the store comes from this table.
| Measured | In plain terms |
|---|---|
| 2.0 mm | about a ninth of a dime across |
| 2.5 mm | a little over an eighth of a dime across |
| 3.0 mm | about a sixth of a dime across |
| 3.5 mm | about a fifth of a dime across |
| 4.0 mm | a little over a fifth of a dime across |
| 4.5 mm | about a quarter of a dime across |
| 5.0 mm | a little over a quarter of a dime across |
| 5.5 mm | a little under a third of a dime across |
| 6.0 mm | about a third of a dime across |
| 6.5 mm | a little over a third of a dime across |
| 7.0 mm | about two fifths of a dime across |
| 7.5 mm | a little over two fifths of a dime across |
| 8.0 mm | a little under half a dime across |
| 8.5 mm | just under half a dime across |
| 9.0 mm | about half a dime across |
| 9.5 to 10 mm | a little over half a dime across |
| 11 mm | about three fifths of a dime across |
| 12 mm | about two thirds of a dime across |
| 13 mm | a little under three quarters of a dime across |
| 14 mm | about four fifths of a dime across |
| 15 to 16 mm | a little smaller than a dime |
| 17 mm | just under a dime across |
| 18 mm | about a dime across |
| 19 mm | about a penny across |
| 20 mm | a little bigger than a penny |
| 21 mm | about a nickel across |
| 22 mm | a little bigger than a nickel |
| 24 mm | about a quarter across |
| Measured | In plain terms |
|---|---|
| 0.6 mm | a little under half as thick as a dime |
| 0.7 mm | about half as thick as a dime |
| 0.8 mm | about three fifths as thick as a dime |
| 0.9 mm | about two thirds as thick as a dime |
| 1.0 mm | about three quarters as thick as a dime |
| 1.1 mm | about four fifths as thick as a dime |
| 1.2 mm | a little thinner than a dime |
| 1.3 mm | about as thick as a dime |
| 1.5 mm | a little thicker than a dime |
| 1.7 mm | about a quarter thicker than a dime |
| 2.0 mm | about one and a half dimes thick |
| Measured | In plain terms |
|---|---|
| 0.2 g | under a tenth of a dime's weight |
| 0.3 g | about an eighth of a dime's weight |
| 0.4 g | about a sixth of a dime's weight |
| 0.5 g | a little over a fifth of a dime's weight |
| 0.6 g | about a quarter of a dime's weight |
| 0.75 g | about a third of a dime's weight |
| 0.9 g | about two fifths of a dime's weight |
| 1.0 g | a little under half a dime's weight |
| 1.2 g | a little over half a dime's weight |
| 1.5 g | about two thirds of a dime's weight |
| 2.0 g | a little lighter than a dime |
| 2.5 g | a little heavier than a dime |
Where a product page shows a maker's figure, it says so: "Factory-stated until our calipers confirm." We replace it with our own measurement once our calipers have measured the piece.