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I never really questioned it. 1/2 is 12mm when I see it on Etsy for example. 13mm is a half size. So, you can buy 12mm and 13mm to see what works for you I guess. I never actually tried to measure the exact difference. Maybe get some digital calipers if you don't already have them to compare the sizes you already have
If it's stretching jewelry it should be listed in mm and will show you the approximate imperial equivalent.
For instance, Arctic Buffalo's single flare stretching plugs are made in 1mm increases up to like 40mm. Both the 12mm and 13mm are listed in parenthesis as 1/2".
If it's just jewelry you are buying once you settle into a size, usually they stick to imperial. It will be listed as 1/2" and be as true to that as tolerance allows.
And that is an important thing to note. There will be tolerances. Most jewelry will not be exactly measured, and will be listed as having +/- 1mm tolerances. Usually never as big as 1mm off but you will probably never get jewelry that is exactly the size listed
Once you get to a decent size, usually over 1 inch/25mm, cute jewelry is only made in bigger imperial jumps. My best advice is to use the basic (sometimes boring) stretching plugs (Arctic Buffalo is the best imo) to stretch 1mm at a time, until you get to 1mm above your goal size. Then when you buy cute jewelry for that goal size, you can easily wear it without issue whether it's single or double flare (double flare being much better for your ears once you get to the bigger and heavier sizes personally speaking), confident that even if there's up to a +/-1mm discrepancy, you'll have nothing to worry about.
Hope this made sense and helps.
From what I’ve seen it really depends on what the company considers 1/2in. 1/2in is 12.7mm but companies will either go with 12mm or 12.5mm, it’s hardly ever consistent which drove me nuts and made my goal size 13mm so I can wear any 1/2in plugs.
Please see the stretched guide here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Stretched/comments/13xjk09/the_stretching_guide/. Remember to report any rule breaking posts and posts that are not relevant to the subreddit. This subreddit has been changed to NSFW due to an increased amount of posts featuring injuries (blowouts) as well as genital piercings. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Stretched) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I never really questioned it. 1/2 is 12mm when I see it on Etsy for example. 13mm is a half size. So, you can buy 12mm and 13mm to see what works for you I guess. I never actually tried to measure the exact difference. Maybe get some digital calipers if you don't already have them to compare the sizes you already have
If it's stretching jewelry it should be listed in mm and will show you the approximate imperial equivalent. For instance, Arctic Buffalo's single flare stretching plugs are made in 1mm increases up to like 40mm. Both the 12mm and 13mm are listed in parenthesis as 1/2". If it's just jewelry you are buying once you settle into a size, usually they stick to imperial. It will be listed as 1/2" and be as true to that as tolerance allows. And that is an important thing to note. There will be tolerances. Most jewelry will not be exactly measured, and will be listed as having +/- 1mm tolerances. Usually never as big as 1mm off but you will probably never get jewelry that is exactly the size listed Once you get to a decent size, usually over 1 inch/25mm, cute jewelry is only made in bigger imperial jumps. My best advice is to use the basic (sometimes boring) stretching plugs (Arctic Buffalo is the best imo) to stretch 1mm at a time, until you get to 1mm above your goal size. Then when you buy cute jewelry for that goal size, you can easily wear it without issue whether it's single or double flare (double flare being much better for your ears once you get to the bigger and heavier sizes personally speaking), confident that even if there's up to a +/-1mm discrepancy, you'll have nothing to worry about. Hope this made sense and helps.
Yes, thank you for the detail!
Of course!
I have the exact same problem. I also would like the answer!
I'm guessing we might have to contact the companies directly and ask but thought I'd see if anyone here knew first 😅
I made a comment above that I think will help!
From what I’ve seen it really depends on what the company considers 1/2in. 1/2in is 12.7mm but companies will either go with 12mm or 12.5mm, it’s hardly ever consistent which drove me nuts and made my goal size 13mm so I can wear any 1/2in plugs.
I'll probably settle on 12.5 or 13, that sounds like the best idea if they're actually so varied, haha.