Land of Odds

Size Comparison Chart for Seed and Bugle Beads

• Seed Beads
• Bugle Beads

The size of a bead is Very Loosely meant to convey the number of beads per inch.   Thus, 11/0 roughly means there are 11 beads per inch.   You will, however, see that Japanese 11/0's tend to be a little larger than Czech 11/0's, and that the size of a bead with a lot of effects on it will be noticeably larger than a bead without effects.   For example, the basic transparent 11/0 will be noticeably smaller than the metallic iris 11/0.

Japanese 11/0 seed beads are manufactured by three different companies -- Miyuki, Matsuno and Toho. The shape of the bead varies slightly, depending on which company manufactured it.

Seed Beads

Seed Bead Size	Image	Approximate Length of 15 beads laid in a row*
15/0		15 beads=apprx. 14mm
14/0		15 beads=apprx. 15mm
13/0		15 beads=apprx. 16mm
12/0		15 beads=apprx. 17mm
11/0		15 beads=apprx. 19mm
10/0		15 beads=apprx. 25mm
9/0		15 beads=apprx. 27mm
8/0		15 beads=apprx. 33mm
6/0		15 beads=apprx. 43mm
4/0		15 beads=apprx. 58mm
1/0		15 beads=apprx. 72mm

*NOTE:  Different beads have different finishes and effects, which may or
may not add to the actual size of a bead.  For example, an 11/0 metallic
lustre hot pink is very close to a size 10/0 bead, while an 11/0 topaz transparent
bead would be a clear size 11/0.

Bugle Beads

Czech Bugle Beads Images	Apprx. Sizes
	#1 - 2mm or 3/32"
	#2 - 4mm or 3/16"
	#3 - 7mm or 1/4"
	#4 - 9mm or 3/8"
	#5 - 11mm or 7/16"
	20mm or 3/4"
	25mm or 15/16"
	30mm or 1 3/16"
	35mm or 1 5/16"

For bugle beads, Japanese use a different numbering system to denote sizes:

Size #1 = 3mm
Size #2 = 6mm
Size #3 = 9mm

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