1. Den of Angels is closing in August 2026. New account registrations are closed. Please see this thread in Den of Angels news for important information: /threads/the-future-of-den-of-angels.893314/
    Dismiss Notice

What size of eyes are appropriate?

Nov 7, 2014

Watch Thread
    1. I am working on my first BJD. I need to order some eyes for my doll and am not sure how to measure for them. Do you just measure from the outside corner to the other corner to arrive at the mm you order, 14mm or 18mm etc.? Or does it depend on the size of the doll? My doll will be approximately 60-62 inches when finished.
       
      #1 greymalkin, Nov 7, 2014
      Tools
      + Quote Reply
    2. honestly it depends on your style do you want bigger or smaller eyes? for an sd you can go anywhere form 12mm (for a realistic sculpt) to 22mm, i'd go for a size your sd dolls have as it's probably close to your preference (if you have any sd dolls that is!)
       
      #2 du-hast, Nov 8, 2014
      Tools
      + Quote Reply
    3. du-hast ~ Thanks for the information. I still need to know where to measure the eye hole to get an idea of the size eye I will order. I have never had or seen a BJD in person. I have only seen thousands of photos on the internet and researched them for months. That is good, but doesn't help on some things. I don't know if all eyes are the same actual physical size and only the iris and pupil vary in size and that is what the mm refer to, or if the mm refer to the length of the whole eye itself. I know this probably sounds strange, but I am totally new at this.
       
      #3 greymalkin, Nov 8, 2014
      Tools
      + Quote Reply
    4. maybe this helps a little:
      View attachment 562
      Here is the inside of a BJD head. You can see the eyeholes, that are actually the eye you see from the front, and you see the circles around them, these are the eyewells where the eyeball fits into. What you need to know in the first place is, how big you want the eyes of the face. I think, it is quite difficult to tell what size eyes you would like when you never have seen bjd eyes in person, but maybe you like to look up Bjds who are similar in size and face structure from what you are planning to do and go from there.

      When you have made a desicion on the eye size I would recommend to purcase cheap acrylic eyes in that size, so you can build the eyewells and size of the eye opening according to your choosen eyes :)
       

      Attached Files:

      #4 Pandakeks, Nov 8, 2014
      Tools
      + Quote Reply
    5. greymalkin, the actual eyeball varies according to the size of the eye. So a 16mm eye would have a ball approximately 16mm in diameter, while a 10mm eye would have a 10mm diameter ball. You should measure your eye hole from the outside, side to side, then that will be the minimum eye size you can use. Most people would go a little bigger so there are no gaps at the sides of the eye hole. Depending on the brand, the iris may be bigger or smaller in proportion to the size of the eyeball. If you want a realistic look, you'd go with a smaller iris; a dolly look, a bigger iris. There's always some trial and error involved, since eye companies don't seem to be very well standardized. Hope this helps! :)
       
      #5 Alewife, Nov 12, 2014
      Tools
      + Quote Reply
    6. Calipers may help you during this process, and when you order if you still aren't sure there are cheap acrylic eye packs of varying sizes that some vendors offer- I think mint on card has one and amazon may have one too. Or take your calipers and roll a ball at the correct size to test it- even with my bjds I didn't make, I've found there to be a little trial and error involved (but then again I am new to the hobby so) ^^
       
      #6 oakBottom, Nov 14, 2014
      Tools
      + Quote Reply
Draft saved Draft deleted
Toggle Width
Styler
Styler
Color Options
Color Options