Yes, the gauge measurement refers to the thickness of the pin. 24 gauge is thinner than 20 gauge. A larger number indicates a smaller thickness.

Typically you would not create an earring with a head pin. A head pin is used to dangle a bead from an earring. You can see our tutorial on making a simple loop here. You would attach this simple loop to the loop on your earring.

When choosing a head pin, you should base it on the hole size of the bead. For example, a 1mm hole size will accommodate 18 gauge wire, and a .5mm hole size will accommodate 24 gauge wire. You can see more of these conversions at our Charts & Guides page here.