Welcome floridasun8! I hope to help and not confuse you more! I've learned mainly by trial and error and have finally decided what size works best for me. In the end you do need to get it over your hand regardless of your wrist size. So like JKP says, how flexible your knuckles and hands are, and how fleshy your hand is matters. Also, the bangle shape affects the fit, too. D-shapes have more surface area for friction between your hand and the bangle, but if the D-shape has slightly rounded edges like a comfort fit ring, then it's easier to put on than one with a flat sharp edge. Round princess shapes have the least area for friction, but some find the thinner edge more painful going over their bones. I prefer chubby princesses and I do not find them more painful than D-shapes. Also, if you're bloated or a few pounds heavier than usual, that can also affect the fit.
My wrist is small in comparison to my hand as well. So to go backwards, I had someone measure my hand as tight as they could - like in that link Uli mentioned to you. It was about 175mm, which divided by pi is 55.7mm diameter. (When I tried to measure myself, it was about 180mm, which is 57.3mm diameter - definitely an easy size for me to put on & take off.) My bangles that measure around 56mm go on and off snugly, but painlessly without soap & water. I might put on hand lotion before putting on my widest 56mm bangles. A 56mm round princess is easier for me.
Going down from 56mm, I use soap & water for 54-55.5mm D-shapes, but not princesses. 54mm is my limit for D-shapes, and hair conditioner & wet hands works best for that size. At one point I also wore a 53mm thin D-shape with sharp flat edge, but it did hurt and so I would wear it for a few days at a time before getting the nerve to tolerate it coming off. It didn't bruise me, but it did make my hand red at some spots (mainly hand knuckle under pinky finger and thumb), which went away within minutes. I no longer wear that one because I like the option to change out every day without worrying about any pain. So if I were to get a permanent bangle, I could probably go down to 52.5mm or 52mm, and maybe be bruised putting it on.
So if you decide to try this method, get the size that you measure at or 0.5-1mm smaller sounds like a safe place to start. What shape do you want? I think either a D-shape or round princess would look good with your link bracelet. Good luck!
:weird:
