Standardizing wristband sizes

[UKRay]

I've spent the past couple of weeks thinking that I ought to standardize the size of some of my products to save production time and make pricing easier. Things I sell all the time (like narrow wristbands) could be cut out simply and easily in advance and finished to order. But what size should they be?

I have a very large wrist that measures almost 8.5" round but a lady's wrist can be as small as 6", whilst a child's wrist can be even smaller than that so how many sizes do you think I should I make and what should they be?

Anyone got any thoughts on this? All suggestions gratefully received!

Ray

(Could someone please measure a passing child and let me know how small its wrist is please - my own little lad is 25 now and somehow, I don't think he qualifies!)

[Suze]

why not try checking commercial jewlrey sites and see what the "standard" lengths are for bracelets?

you would prob have to adjust a bit for the "leather" part of it but it should give you a start

[gesa]

We had a poll here

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=16751&st=0&p=107067&hl=wrist%20size&fromsearch=1entry107067

Maybe that will help along with the comments to find out how much you need from each lenght.

Abouts childs wrists I don't know much. I was "hired" last summer from my nephew for his 10th birthday to make braclets and I just remember how different where their wrist sizes. From much smaller than mine to a little bigger.

Gesa

[CitizenKate]

I spent some time researching this, myself, and the result I got was that there is no real standard for sizing bracelets. At least I didn't find any; everyone I checked with had different standards for small, medium, and large.

So what I do is choose the range of sizes I want to make them for, then make 3 sizes with two "settings", and in the product description I clearly state what wrist sizes each size fits:

- 5.5" to 6.25" for small,

- 6.5" to 7.25" for medium, and

- 7.5" to 8.25" for large.

But don't consider this any kind of standard, it's just what has worked for me, and these sizes work for a great majority of customers. I also offer custom sizing, which I trim to size from my existing sizes. So the standard is simply the number of inches your customer's wrist measures.

I also have a handy tool for accurately measuring the size of a wrist cuff or bracelet. I'm sure you've figured out by now that the length of the bracelet and the wrist size it fits are two quite different things. I just cut out a rectangle from a piece of poster board, mark a scale on it, and curl it up inside the bracelet to determine its true size. The one shown here, which measures 6.5" is actually 8" long.

Kate

[UKRay]

What a very helpful set of answers. Many thanks all.

Has anyone got anything else to add?

What size do you cut your wristbands to? How long does a braided wristband need to be cut so it is the right length after braiding? Is there any kind of formulae?

Ray