8, 10, 12 or 15 mm? Choosing a bead size
Every size carries the same blend. A Moonlit Osmanthus bracelet smells of sweet osmanthus and warm wood whether its beads are 8 mm or 15 mm, and at every size the scent is in the bead itself and lasts for years. What the size changes is how the bracelet looks, how it sits and which wrists it fits. Song incense makers left the size to taste too: one recipe for scented beads in Chen’s Incense Register, finished by 1322, says to roll them “large or small as you like”.
The four sizes
The size is the diameter of each bead. We counted the beads on a string of each size and measured the inside of the string, lying flat and unstretched. All four formulas have the same count at each size.
- 8 mm: 22 beads, about 15.9 cm (6.3 in) inside. Fits wrists of about 14.5 to 16.5 cm (5.7 to 6.5 in). $120, €120 in the EU.
- 10 mm: 19 beads, about 16.5 cm (6.5 in) inside. Fits wrists of 15 to 17 cm (5.9 to 6.7 in). $130, €130.
- 12 mm: 17 beads, about 17.4 cm (6.9 in) inside. Fits wrists of 16 to 18 cm (6.3 to 7.1 in). $140, €140.
- 15 mm: 15 beads, about 18 cm (7.1 in) inside. Fits wrists of 16.5 to 18.5 cm (6.5 to 7.3 in). $150, €150.
Prices include shipping, duties and taxes; in Canada and Singapore each entry shows them in local dollars. Each entry shows a string on a wrist at every size: a 16 cm wrist for 8 and 10 mm, and a 17.5 cm (6.9 in) wrist for 12 and 15 mm.
Why one size fits several wrists
The beads are strung on elastic, so a string stretches to fit. Each size sits well on wrists from about 1.5 cm under its inside measurement to 0.5 cm over it. At the small end of that range the string sits loose. At the large end the elastic is stretched and the beads close up against the skin. For about half a centimetre beyond the range it still goes on, but snugly: an 18.5 cm wrist takes the 12 mm string with the elastic stretched and every bead touching the next.
Measuring your wrist
Wrap a strip of paper or a piece of string around your wrist, just below the wrist bone, where a bracelet would sit. Keep it close but not tight. Mark where it meets, then lay it flat and measure it with a ruler. Find the sizes whose range includes your number.
If you already have a stretch bracelet that fits the way you like, there is a second way. Lay it flat without stretching it and measure around the inside. Choose the size whose inside measurement is closest to it.
How most wrists compare
The largest public set of wrist measurements we know of is ANSUR II, the US Army’s 2012 survey of 4,082 men and 1,986 women, measured by trained staff. Soldiers are not everyone, but the figures give a sense of scale. Half the women had wrists between 15.0 and 16.0 cm, and half the men between 17.0 and 18.2 cm.
Against our ranges, 83% of the women in the survey fall within the 8 mm range and 74% within 10 mm. Among the men, 68% fall within the 12 mm range and 77% within 15 mm.
Not every wrist is covered. About one woman in twelve measured under 14.5 cm, where even the 8 mm string will sit loose. About one man in seven measured more than 18.5 cm, and one in twenty more than 19 cm. Above 19 cm our largest string will be too tight. We would rather say so before you order.
If two sizes fit
Most wrists fall within two or three ranges: a 16 cm wrist takes 8, 10 or 12 mm. Then the choice is about the look. Eight millimetre beads sit close and quiet, and slip easily under a cuff. Fifteen millimetre beads are bold and easy to see. The larger beads also carry more of the blend: a 15 mm string holds about four and a half times as much material as an 8 mm one. The formula is the same.
Sizes are for wrists, not for men or women. A woman with a 17 cm wrist may like the 12 mm string, and a man with a 16 cm wrist may like 10 mm.
How big were Song scented beads?
The old recipes give a few sizes. In Chen’s register, Sun’s osmanthus beads are rolled by hand “the size of a small coin”, pierced with a bamboo pin and dried a hundred to a string, hung from a small bamboo bow in the wind. Another recipe makes them “large or small as you like”, pierced while still damp. The register also quotes a Daoist text: mixed incense pounded and “rolled into pills the size of parasol-tree seeds”, wutong 梧桐, and strung on a blue cord. What hexiang is, and how it has been worn, is in Hexiang: blended incense, worn as beads.
Changing a size
If a bracelet doesn’t fit, you can return it within thirty days of delivery, unworn and in its box, and order the size you want. Write to help@meridianharmony.com first; return shipping is on us.
Questions
Does the bead size change the scent? No. Each formula is the same blend at every size, and the scent lasts for years. A larger string simply holds more of it.
I’m between two sizes. Which should I choose? The smaller one if you like a bracelet close to the skin, the larger one if you like it to move a little. A 17.2 cm wrist, for example, wears 10 mm snug or 12 mm comfortably.
Are all four scents made in every size? Yes: 8, 10, 12 and 15 mm for each of the four.
How do I put it on? Roll it over your hand rather than pulling it wide, which is kinder to the elastic. Keep it dry: take it off before washing your hands, bathing or swimming.
Choosing one as a present is in A gift for someone who loves scent.
Sources
- Chen Jing, Chenshi xiangpu 陳氏香譜, volume 4 (香珠; 孫廉訪木犀香珠; 事類: 香珠, quoting 三洞珠囊).
- Gordon, C. C. et al., 2012 Anthropometric Survey of U.S. Army Personnel (ANSUR II), public data at OPEN Design Lab, Penn State (wrist circumference; figures above computed from the published male and female files).
- Our own counts and measurements, November 2026, on strings of each size.