Basic Lengths and Measurements Wire Gauges Wire Gauges – with gauges as well as with seed beads, the larger the number, the smaller the diameter of the wire or the size of the bead. Information here refers to silver of copper based wire. 26g or 0.4mm - used for very small and delicate projects and can be crocheted with care. Wire has no strength and can break easily. 24g or 0.5mm – use for pearls & most gemstones - easy to work with and used for crochet work and wire wrapping. 22g or 0.6mm used for glass beads, gemstones and some pearls, wire wrapping. Use for beads will depend on the hole size. Note that most glass beads have holes no larger than 0.8mm. If a bead hole is indicated as 0.8mm, use a wire of a smaller diameter, not the same diameter! 20g or 0.8mm – can be used to make earwires, clasps or larger beads, wire wrapping, and jig work. 18g or 1.0mm good for making your own jump rings, or jig work (if the jig is metal not plastic) 16g or 1.3mm used as a base to wrap finer wires around, good starting size for wire shaping with a hammer. 14g or 1.6mm used as a base to wrap finer wire around, for wire shaping with a hammer. 12g or 2.0mm strong but also hard to work with, good for finger rings. Wire Size Chart B & 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 Gold Filled Wire - Half ounce spools, round wire       Approx Approx No. Description Grams / foot Ft/ spool Meter/spool W40010DS05 (Half ounce Spool) .010" (0.26mm) 30 Gauge DS 0.5 TO Spool 0.1445 108 33.00 W40013DS05 (Half ounce Spool) .013" (0.33mm) 28 Gauge DS 0.5 TO Spool 0.2443 64 19.50 W40016DS05 (Half ounce Spool) .016" (0.41mm) 26 Gauge DS 0.5 TO Spool 0.3700 42 12.80 W40020DS05 (Half ounce Spool) .020" (0.51mm) 24 Gauge DS 0.5 TO Spool 0.5781 27 8.22 W40025DS05 (Half ounce Spool) .025" (0.64mm) 22 Gauge DS 0.5 TO Spool 0.9033 17 5.20 W40032DS05 (Half ounce Spool) .032" (0.81mm) 20 Gauge DS 0.5 TO Spool 1.4800 11 3.40 W40040DS05 (Half ounce Spool) .040" (1.02mm) 18 Gauge DS 0.5 TO Spool 2.3125 7 2.10 Imperial to Metric Inches    Millimeters 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 3/4 in       18.5mm 7/8 in       22mm 1 in          25mm 1 feet          0.30m 3 feet          0.91m 3.28 feet     1.0m 9.84 feet     3.0m   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          Needle Size    Bead Size Size 10    Matsumo and Delica Beads Size 11, Czech Seed Beads Size 11 Size 12    Matsumo 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 Centimeters Bracelet        7.5”                           190mm Anklet          9”                               230mm Choker        16”                              400mm Princess       18”                             450mm Matinee       20”-24”                      500-600mm Opera          28”-32”                      710mm Rope           40”-45”                       101-114cm Lariat           48”                             122cm     Japanese Seed Beads per inch/2.5cm Japanese Seed beads- approximately size 11 = 16 beads per inch (2.54cm) size 8  = 12 beads per inch (2.54cm) size 6  =   8 beads per inch (2.54cm) Czech 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 (measure width of bead only i.e. hole to hole) 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

Weights, Lengths and Measurements

Listed below are a number of graphs and information to help in your beading journey.

Mass
One mass is equal to 1200 pieces.
Gross
One gross is equal to 144 pieces.

Troy Weight
Troy 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.

Further measurement conversions are easily gained through Google. Simple type in “convert x amount of m to x amount of n” and an answer is often given.