Bracelet Size Calculator

Strand length = Wrist (cm) + Spare — A bracelet cannot be built to the bare wrist measurement, because the strand rides around the outside of the beads rather than against the skin — the bigger the bead, the larger the effective circumference. Standard ease is 1–1.5 cm for a stretch bracelet and 1.5–2 cm for a clasped one, since a clasp has to swing round the wrist and cannot be fastened without slack. A 16 cm wrist plus 1.5 cm gives a 17.5 cm strand, which holds 21 beads at 8 mm. For a clasped bracelet, take the clasp length — usually 10–15 mm — out of the beads rather than the strand, so you string about two fewer. Stretch cord has no clasp, so beads fill the whole strand. The cord figure is the strand plus 8 cm, the tails you need to tie the knot and pull it in.

With Wrist (cm) 16cm, Spare 1.5cm, Bead diameter 8mm, the answer is Strand length 17.5cm.

Enter Wrist (cm), Spare, Bead diameter. The result recalculates as you type, and an empty box counts as zero.

Changing only Wrist (cm) (cm) moves the answer to Wrist (cm) (cm) 8 → Strand length (cm) 9.5 and Wrist (cm) (cm) 32 → Strand length (cm) 33.5. The table below lays out five steps.

Money is shown to the nearest whole unit, percentages to one decimal place and everything else to two. What you see is rounded; the calculation itself carries the unrounded value forward.

Stretch cord fails by snapping more often than by untying. Use 0.8 mm or heavier, and pre-stretch it by pulling the ends a few times before stringing, or the bracelet goes loose within days. Tie a surgeon's knot twice, add a drop of glue, and draw the knot inside a bead hole. Rough-drilled stone and metal beads saw through cord, so those belong on a clasped strand instead. Wrists also swell through the day by up to half a centimetre, so err generous on ease for a gift.