Earring Gauge refers to the width of the wire or post on an earring that goes through the pierced hole in the earlobe. A gauged earring has a large earwire that is too big to fit through a standard earlobe piercing.

Many people and cultures prefer large ear piercings, resulting in earlobe holes that are considerably bigger than standard piercings. Some of our earrings have larger earwires that fit these bigger earlobe holes, but will be too big for standard pierced earlobes.

The standard earwire size is 20-22 gauge for earrings found in department stores and boutiques.  The SMALLER the gauge size the LARGER the diameter of the earwire. Earrings on Tribal Muse listed with 18 gauge or smaller earwires are too big to fit through standard earlobe piercings, and are intended for larger-sized earlobe holes.

Tribal Muse lists earwire gauge sizes in the measurements section of the item description for gauged earrings with larger-sized earwires. If no earwire gauge is mentioned, then the earrings have 20-22 gauge earwires and will fit standard earlobe piercings.