Jewelry gauges are reported according to the Brown & Sharp (B&S) system, which causes considerable confusion in those who are used to the common wire or plate gauging systems. 14g B&S is the equivalent of 16g US Standard or Imperial Wire. In this manual, any reference to a gauge number will be considered to be B&S. A gauging system is used to recognize the equivalence of jewelry which varies slightly in actual measured wire thickness. The approximate thicknesses, in inches, and the equivalent gauge numbers for the various systems are given below: