How to stack bangles: measuring, widths and how many to wear

A bangle is the one thing in my workshop that cannot be adjusted after it is made. A chain can be shortened, a ring can be sized, a bracelet has a clasp you can move along. A bangle is a closed circle, so the internal diameter is the entire fit, and most of mine are made at 6.5cm across the inside. That one measurement decides whether a stack sits where you want it or slides over your hand.

I have made jewellery by hand in London for 22 years, from a stall on Portobello Road to Liberty, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and Harrods. The bench has not moved.

How to measure your wrist for a bangle

Do not measure your wrist. That is why bangles arrive and will not go on. Make a loose fist, as though holding a pole, and measure round the widest part of your hand, over the knuckles of the thumb and little finger. That is what the bangle has to clear, because your hand is wider than your wrist. Divide it by 3.14 for the internal diameter you need. A 6.5cm bangle is roughly 20.5cm round the inside, so a closed fist of 20cm or under will pass through it.

If your fist measures more, a solid bangle is the wrong shape for you. A hinged one opens at the side and closes round the wrist instead of going over the hand.

Building a stack that sits well

Odd numbers read better than even. Three bangles look deliberate. Two look like one went missing.

Vary the width. Two bangles of the same width look like one that has split. Put a narrow one beside a wider one and both become visible.

Give the stack a stop. One piece with a stone or a colour in it anchors the rest. Without it, a run of plain circles reads as decoration rather than a choice.

Put a chain bracelet at the bottom, nearest the hand. Solid bangles ride over the wrist bone when you move. A chain sits in the hollow and stops the rest travelling. Measure your actual wrist for that one with a piece of string. The standard adult length is 6.5 inches, and there is a chain and bracelet size guide here.

Think about the noise. Bangles knock, and in a quiet room it is louder than people expect. An enamelled bangle between two metal ones softens it, which sounds like nothing until you have sat through a meeting with 4 on.

The piece I would build a stack around

The Gemstone Bangle is £325, in recycled sterling silver or gold vermeil, set with a genuine stone: onyx, rose quartz, citrine, lapis lazuli, peridot or amethyst, and you tell me which when you order. Each is made by hand, so no two come out identical, and the small irregularities are the point rather than a fault.

It anchors a stack because the stone gives your eye somewhere to land, so everything after it can be plain. I notice that people who buy one tend to wear it alone for a few weeks before adding anything.

Two other ways in

You do not have to start at £325. The Studded Bangle is £100 in sterling silver and £120 in gold vermeil, 1.5cm wide with small studs round it, and substantial enough to carry a narrower bangle beside it.

Below that, the Small Initial Charm is £20 in sterling silver and £35 gold plated, engraved here in the workshop, and it goes on the chain bracelet at the bottom of the stack. For the bracelet and the engraving together, the Heart Initial Charm Bracelet is £75. For colour, the Knotted Enamel Bangle is £150 in gold vermeil, made in the shade you ask for. The range sits in the bangles collection, the colours in enamel jewellery.

The gold bangle in the drawer that does not fit

Here is the conversation I have most often about bangles, and it has nothing to do with buying one.

Someone has a gold bangle that belonged to their mother or their grandmother. It is solid, it is lovely, and it will not go over their hand. Or it is a christening bangle, 9ct gold, made for a 2 year old wrist, and the child it was made for is 34. The gold is real, the sentiment is real, and it sits in a drawer doing neither of them any good.

That gold can be remade. I lift the metal and any stones and rework them into something you will put on. A bangle that does not fit can become a hinged one that does, or a ring, or a pendant. The stones stay, the gold stays, what it means stays. Only the shape changes. That is what Second Life Jewellery is: send a photograph and I will tell you what it could become and what it would cost. The estimate is free and nothing is taken apart until you say so. The same goes for the odd earrings, broken chains and loose stones in the drawer beside it, which can be combined into one piece you will wear.

The second life is the real one.

Every bangle I make by hand is in the bangles collection here. If what you have is already gold and simply does not fit, send me a photo instead.

Anna Lou x

Common questions about bangles

What size bangle do I need?

Measure around your closed fist at its widest point, over the knuckles of the thumb and little finger, then divide that number by 3.14 to get the internal diameter. Most of my bangles are 6.5cm inside, which suits a closed fist of about 20cm. If yours is larger, a hinged bangle is the better answer, because it opens at the side and does not need to pass over your hand at all.

How many bangles should I wear at once?

Three is the number that looks considered, and it is where I would stop if the bangles are wide. If they are narrow you can wear 5 or 6 without it becoming a lot. Vary the widths, and put a chain bracelet at the bottom to keep the rest in place.

Can an old gold bangle be made bigger?

Sometimes, and sometimes the better answer is to remake it. Stretching a solid bangle thins the metal, so if it needs to grow by more than a little I would rather rework the gold into a hinged bangle that opens, or into a different piece altogether. Send a photograph through Second Life Jewellery and I will tell you honestly which of the two your piece needs.