History of the Barbell: Straight, Curved and Circular
The barbell is the most adaptable shape in body jewelry. A straight post, a threaded ball at each end, and a form that scales from a tiny 6mm helix piece all the way up to an industrial bar that spans the whole ear.
It's also the shape that spawned the most variants — and the origin of one of them turns out to be genuinely undocumented.
Named at Gauntlet
Like most modern piercing vocabulary, "barbell" comes from one address.
The terms barbell and circular barbell were both coined at Gauntlet in Los Angeles by Jim Ward and his mentor Doug Malloy, alongside "captive bead ring." Gauntlet was studio, manufacturer and publisher all at once, which is why its vocabulary became everyone's vocabulary. That story is in our history of the piercing industry.
The name is descriptive rather than clever: a bar with weights at both ends, just scaled down. It stuck because it was obvious.
The Threading Problem
The interesting history of the barbell isn't really the bar. It's the ends, and how they attach.
Externally threaded came first. The threads sit on the post itself, and the balls screw onto them. Simpler to machine, but it means a threaded section travels through the piercing every time the jewelry goes in. Ray Spain's company, Spain's Custom, made externally threaded barbells and sold them through PFIQ until Gauntlet's own steel line arrived. When his health forced him to stop, Sailor Sid Diller bought the equipment and continued as Silver Anchor.
Internally threaded flipped it: hollow post, smooth all the way along, threads on the ball. Nothing sharp passes through tissue. It's generally credited not to any American maker but to a piercer known as Tattoo Samy in Frankfurt, Germany.
Then in 1991, Anatometal and Industrial Strength introduced implant-grade materials to body jewelry — and, in the same year, countersunk barbell ends, a small but useful refinement to how the ball seats against the post.
Threadless arrived last, patented in 1997, replacing the screw with a tension-held pin. Not strictly a barbell development, but it's where most small-gauge jewelry ended up. That story is in who invented threadless jewelry, and the practical comparison is in threadless vs threaded.
The Three Shapes
Straight barbell. The original. A straight post with a ball at each end, one usually fixed and one removable. Used for industrials, tongues, some nipple and cartilage placements — anywhere the tissue runs in a straight line.
Circular barbell. A near-complete ring with a gap and a ball at each end. Also called a horseshoe. Gauntlet named this one too. It sits somewhere between a barbell and a ring, and it's used for septum, daith, and cartilage placements where a curve follows the anatomy better.
Curved barbell. A gentle arc — more than straight, less than circular. Navel piercings are the classic use, along with eyebrow, rook, snug and vertical labret. Also known as a banana, a bananabell, or a belly bar.
Who Designed the Curved Barbell?
Here's the gap, and it's a real one.
The straight and circular barbell both have documented naming and a traceable place of origin. The curved barbell has neither. We could find no source identifying who first made one, when, or where — not in the trade histories, not in the archives, not in any of the manufacturers' own accounts.
What can be said is when it became common. Navel piercing went mainstream in the West during the 1990s, helped considerably by its appearance in a widely-broadcast 1993 music video, and the curved barbell is the shape that placement actually needs. A straight bar doesn't sit well in the curve of a navel rim; a full ring moves too much. The curved bar solves a specific anatomical problem, and demand for it arrived with the piercing.
The vocabulary followed the same curve. "Bananabell" was the common term through the early 2000s — the shape plus the technical word. Studios and manufacturers have since largely settled on belly bar, navel bar, or simply curved barbell.
So the honest statement is that the curved barbell was popularized by the navel piercing boom of the 1990s, by a designer nobody recorded. Which is not unusual in this industry — attribution is patchy throughout, as we found with the captive bead ring.
How to Read the Sizing
Barbells are specified by three numbers, and all three matter.
| Measurement | What it means |
|---|---|
| Gauge | Thickness of the bar. Higher number = thinner. Cartilage is typically 16G; navel is usually 14G. |
| Length | Wearable bar between the two ends, not including the balls. |
| Ball size | Diameter of the ends, usually 3mm to 5mm. Larger balls sit further off the skin. |
On a curved barbell, length is measured along the curve rather than end to end in a straight line — a point that catches people out when ordering replacements.
⚠️ Barbells are generally 16G or 14G. 20G and 18G are earlobe and nostril gauges, not barbell territory.
Materials Followed the Standards
Early barbells were steel, because that's what Gauntlet manufactured from the early 1980s onward. Implant-grade specifications arrived in 1991, and titanium became the professional default from there.
For a healing piercing today that means implant-grade titanium, solid 14K or 18K gold, or niobium — for the bar and the ends both. The full arc is in our history of body jewelry materials.
Browse our barbells, belly rings, or the full implant-grade titanium range.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who invented the barbell for piercings?
No single inventor is documented, but the terms "barbell" and "circular barbell" were coined at Gauntlet in Los Angeles by Jim Ward and Doug Malloy in the 1970s. Gauntlet manufactured and popularized the design through its catalog and through PFIQ.
Who invented the curved barbell?
Nobody knows, as far as we can establish. Unlike the straight and circular barbell, no source we could find names a designer or a date. What's clear is that it became common alongside the navel piercing boom of the 1990s, because the shape suits that placement.
What's the difference between a curved barbell and a circular barbell?
Degree of curve. A curved barbell is a gentle arc — more than straight, considerably less than a ring. A circular barbell is a near-complete circle with a small gap, sometimes called a horseshoe.
What is a bananabell?
An older term for a curved barbell, common through the early 2000s, from the shape. Most studios and manufacturers now say belly bar, navel bar, or just curved barbell.
What's the difference between internally and externally threaded?
Externally threaded puts the threads on the post, so a threaded section passes through the piercing. Internally threaded reverses it — hollow smooth post, threads on the ball. Internal threading is generally credited to a piercer known as Tattoo Samy in Frankfurt.
How do I measure a curved barbell?
Length is measured along the curve, not straight across, and it excludes the balls. Gauge is the bar's thickness. Ball size is measured separately. If you're replacing a piece, the simplest approach is to check the specification of what you already have, or ask your piercer.
What gauge is a barbell?
Usually 16G or 14G. Cartilage placements tend to be 16G, navel piercings 14G. Thinner gauges like 18G and 20G are for earlobes and nostrils.
This article is for general information only and is not medical advice. If you are unsure what gauge, length or style your piercing needs, ask a reputable professional piercer. If you are experiencing irritation, redness or discharge from a piercing, consult a reputable professional piercer or a qualified healthcare provider.