How many SS10 rhinestones are in a gross?
The count is the easy part. The useful question is how much finished design one gross buys you, and that depends on the grid rather than the stone.
A gross is 144 stones, whatever the size. With SS10 stones (about 2.8 mm) on a square grid with a 0.6 mm gap, 144 stones cover roughly 1,665 mm², about 16.6 cm². On offset rows the same gross covers about 1,440 mm², because offset packing is about 13% tighter.
What a gross actually is
A gross is twelve dozen: 144 pieces. It is a count, not a weight and not a volume, so it means the same thing for SS6 and SS30.
Rhinestone suppliers sell in several units, and they are not interchangeable:
- Gross — 144 stones, the classic unit.
- 10 gross bag — 1,440 stones, the most common retail bag.
- Weight-based bags — sold in grams or ounces. The count depends on the stone size and the coating, so a "5 g bag" of SS10 and a "5 g bag" of SS20 are nowhere near the same number of stones.
- Piece count — some listings quote 500 or 1,000 flat.
If a listing mixes units, count 100 stones, weigh them, and scale. That is more reliable than any conversion table, including one on this page.
How much area one gross covers
Each stone occupies a square of side stone diameter + gap. With a 0.6 mm gap, the area one gross covers is 144 × (d + 0.6)². Offset rows pack at √3/2, about 86.6% of that area.
| Stone | Diameter | Pitch | Area per gross, square grid | Area per gross, offset rows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SS6 | 2.0 mm | 2.6 mm | 973 mm² · 9.7 cm² | 843 mm² · 8.4 cm² |
| SS10 | 2.8 mm | 3.4 mm | 1,665 mm² · 16.6 cm² | 1,442 mm² · 14.4 cm² |
| SS16 | 3.9 mm | 4.5 mm | 2,916 mm² · 29.2 cm² | 2,525 mm² · 25.3 cm² |
| SS20 | 4.7 mm | 5.3 mm | 4,045 mm² · 40.5 cm² | 3,503 mm² · 35.0 cm² |
| SS30 | 6.4 mm | 7.0 mm | 7,056 mm² · 70.6 cm² | 6,111 mm² · 61.1 cm² |
Those numbers are the maximum for a fully covered rectangle. They are a ceiling, never an estimate for lettering.
Why a name uses about 40% of the box it sits in
Letters are hollow. The finished size tells you the bounding box, not the ink inside it.
Take the maker's default: three letters, 6 inches wide, SS10, 0.6 mm gap. The box is 152.4 × 62.2 mm, which is 9,480 mm². Filling that box on offset rows would take about 947 stones. The actual count for those three letters is 381.
381 ÷ 947 is 40%. That ratio holds reasonably well for bold block lettering, which is why it is a better planning number than the area table. Thin script, outlines, and logos with fine detail drop well below it; a solid silhouette shape pushes toward 70–80%.
So for a name, budget roughly:
- 381 stones for the design, plus about 10% for loss, defects and brushing: 419.
- That is 3 gross (432 stones), and it leaves a useful handful spare.
Ordering so you do not run out mid-design
- Set the design in the tool and read the stone count. It is the exact number of circles in the exported SVG, not an estimate.
- Multiply by 1.1. Stones are lost to static, the brush, and the floor.
- Round up to whole gross. A bag of 10 gross is usually cheaper per stone than three single gross, but only if you will use them.
- If the design mixes colours, do this per colour. Colour changes are where people under-order, because the eye reads one design and the invoice reads three.
For a garment-sized back design, the count climbs fast: a full back at 12 inches wide in SS10 lands in the low thousands, which is 15–25 gross rather than a bag.
Type a name, set the stone size, and the maker shows the exact stone count and finished size. Free preview.
Questions
Is a gross 144 or 150 stones?
A gross is 144. Some suppliers round a bag up to 150 or print "approx. 150" on the label, which is a convenience, not a different unit. If a listing says gross and the maths only works at 150, treat the count as approximate.
How many gross is 1,000 SS10 stones?
About 6.9 gross. Round up to 7 gross, which is 1,008 stones, if you need a thousand of them for a design and want a small margin.
Does stone colour change the count per bag?
Yes for weight-based bags. Coatings, AB finishes and opaques change the mass of an individual stone, so a bag sold by weight holds different counts for the same SS size. For gross-counted bags the number is fixed.
How many stones does a 12-inch back design need?
In SS10 on offset rows, a fully covered 12 × 8 inch area would take roughly 2,400 stones. A typical design fills 40–60% of its box, so 1,000 to 1,500 stones, or 8 to 11 gross, with a 10% margin on top.