How many inches is a choker necklace?

Conventionally 14 to 16 inches, which is about 35 to 41cm, measured as the total length of the piece including the clasp. A collar is shorter at 12 to 13 inches, and an 18 inch necklace sits at the collarbone rather than on the neck.

How do I measure my neck without a tape measure?

Wrap a strip of paper or a ribbon where the choker will sit, mark the overlap, then measure the strip against a sheet of A4, which is 297mm on the long edge and 210mm on the short edge. Do not use string, because it stretches and reads short.

How much should I add to my neck measurement for a choker?

Add 1 to 2cm for a piece with no stretch in it, so it sits on the neck rather than gripping it. Add nothing to a ribbon or tie fastening, since you set the length when you put it on. You should be able to get one finger under the finished piece.

Jewellery

Choker sizing, with or without a tape measure

2 November 2026 · 5 min read

A choker is the one piece of jewellery with no tolerance in it. A ring that is half a size out spins. A necklace that is two centimetres off hangs two centimetres lower and nobody notices. A choker that is two centimetres too small does not do up, and a choker that is two centimetres too big is a short necklace. The measurement takes a minute and almost nobody does it, which is why the comment under every choker photograph is somebody asking whether it will fit.

Decide where it is going to sit before you measure

Your neck is not one circumference. It is a cone, and it changes by two to three centimetres between the base, where it meets the collarbones, and the middle, just under the jaw line. A collar style sits high on that cone. A choker sits around the middle. A short necklace sits in the hollow at the base.

So measure at the height you intend to wear it, not at the narrowest or the widest point. If you are not sure, measure at the base of the neck, because that is the convention most size charts assume and it is the more forgiving of the two numbers.

Keep the tape snug against the skin but do not pull it in. A useful check: you should be able to slide one finger between the tape and your neck without force. If you cannot get a finger under it, the number you are reading is smaller than the choker you want.

Measuring with no tape measure in the house

Cut a strip of paper about a centimetre wide and long enough to go round, or use a shoelace, a phone charging cable or a length of ribbon. Wrap it where the choker will sit, mark the overlap with a pen, and take it off keeping the mark.

Now you need something straight and of known length. A sheet of A4 is the best ruler substitute in any house: it is 297mm on the long edge and 210mm on the short one, and the standard is tight enough that you can trust both figures. Lay the strip flat against the long edge, mark where 297mm ends, and measure the remainder against the short edge. A bank card is also standardised at 85.6mm by 54mm if you need a smaller unit.

Avoid string if you can. String stretches under tension and bites into skin, and a stretched string reads two or three centimetres short, which is exactly the size of the error that makes a choker not do up. A strip of paper cannot stretch, which is its entire advantage.

The numbers, and the names on the labels

Necklace lengths have conventional names and they are quoted as the total length of the piece, clasp included, not as a neck measurement. A collar is roughly 30 to 33cm, that is 12 to 13 inches. A choker is roughly 35 to 41cm, 14 to 16 inches. A princess length is about 45cm or 18 inches and sits at the collarbone. A matinee is 50 to 60cm, an opera 70 to 90cm, and a rope is anything beyond a metre.

Most adult necks fall somewhere between about 30cm and 43cm at the base, which is a wide spread, and it is why a single choker length cannot fit everybody. Take your measurement and add 1 to 2cm for a piece with no give in it. Add nothing if the piece ties with a ribbon, because you set the length yourself.

If a product page gives a length and an extender, read the extender as the real adjustment range. A 5cm extender chain turns one length into a usable band of lengths, and it is the single most useful feature on a choker you are buying without trying on.

Velvet, lace and ribbon behave differently from metal

A soft band conforms to the neck and distributes pressure over a wider area, so a centimetre of error feels like nothing. A rigid or semi rigid metal piece bears on a few small points and the same centimetre is the difference between comfortable and not. A piece like the Death's Head Moth Choker has a fixed metal element in it, and that element does not stretch to accommodate anybody.

Velvet has a nap and it will mark where it is pulled tight. A band worn at the limit of its adjustment develops a permanent crushed line at the tightest point, and velvet nap does not recover fully from that. Fitting a soft choker one notch looser than the tightest it will go is better for the piece as well as for you.

Anything that sits directly on the front of the throat is going to be more noticeable when you swallow, eat or sing, regardless of how well it fits. If you have not worn a choker before, a lower sitting piece such as The Rose Choker is an easier first one than a high collar.

Common ways the measurement goes wrong

Measuring over a jumper collar or a shirt collar. A ribbed collar adds several millimetres per layer and a roll neck adds a centimetre or more. Measure on bare skin and then decide separately whether you want to wear the piece over anything.

Measuring with the chin raised. Lifting the chin stretches the front of the neck and reads small. Look straight ahead, relaxed, the way you stand.

Measuring somebody else from memory. Neck size is not something people can estimate from looking, and it correlates with build much more loosely than you would expect. If you are buying a choker as a gift and cannot get the number honestly, buy a different kind of jewellery, which is covered in our piece on buying jewellery without knowing the size.

Why we are fussy about this

We do not accept returns for a size chosen incorrectly. That is in our returns policy and it is the direct consequence of not holding stock: there is no warehouse to send a choker back to, so an unworn piece in the wrong size is simply money gone.

What we can do is check. If a product page gives a length and you are between sizes, or the page is less specific than you need, email us before you order and we will read the supplier's own measurement for that piece and tell you the number. That is a better use of five minutes than a guess.

If the neck measurement is genuinely borderline, consider a pendant on an adjustable chain instead. A pendant piece like The Cat in the Frame tolerates a two centimetre error without anybody being able to see it.

Questions people actually ask

How many inches is a choker necklace?: Conventionally 14 to 16 inches, which is about 35 to 41cm, measured as the total length of the piece including the clasp. A collar is shorter at 12 to 13 inches, and an 18 inch necklace sits at the collarbone rather than on the neck.
How do I measure my neck without a tape measure?: Wrap a strip of paper or a ribbon where the choker will sit, mark the overlap, then measure the strip against a sheet of A4, which is 297mm on the long edge and 210mm on the short edge. Do not use string, because it stretches and reads short.
How much should I add to my neck measurement for a choker?: Add 1 to 2cm for a piece with no stretch in it, so it sits on the neck rather than gripping it. Add nothing to a ribbon or tie fastening, since you set the length when you put it on. You should be able to get one finger under the finished piece.