Chain jewelry has existed for millennia. The earliest chain was for attaching, securing, and pulling loads, whether by sailors or farmers, and was made of hemp rope. Early mariners soon learned, however, that rope easily rots, molders, and breaks, and did not stand up well under the stresses of saltwater and the demands of ocean-going tasks. Here, from the BBC’s “A History of the World” program, is an example of an early ships anchor cable chain link with stud.
As an aside, if you have not subscribe to the BBC podcast, “A History of the World in 100 Objects,” you must. It is one of the best audio series I’ve ever heard, it’s brilliantly produced, well narrated, and packed with wonderful historical tidbits that will fascinate you. Go to iTunes or Google Play right now and subscribe. Seriously, go do this thing. I’ll wait.
Metal chain has been around for centuries BC. According to Wikipedia, one of the earliest known examples of metal chain is use of rings linked together to draw up a bucket of well water. It is said Cleopatra wore chain jewelry, and ancient royalty has been found buried along with chain jewelry in Egyptian tombs. It’s safe to say that our girl Cleopatra was definitely on the cutting edge of all things fashion and style, agreed? Makeup on fleek, clothing and accessories on trend. Or, more accurately, WAS trend. her modern-day equivalent would have to be Coco Chanel, in my view. In the 1930’s, Coco wore chain jewelry made of base metal and faux pearls that draped to her waist, signaling that even working women of the great depression could afford to look stylish. Since then, chain has been used to create jewelry of every imaginable variation, using innumerable types of materials. There are many jewelry chain styles, some of which have more than one name. There is no standard naming convention for jewelry chain, and, in some cases, chain style names are trademarks of their respective designers or design houses. So, choosing a chain by name can sometimes be confusing. Let’s start by describing a few of the most common styles, and we will continue to build upon our chain styles glossary in future posts.
The easy to understand cable chain is one of the most common types of chain. It consists of a series of equally sized round or elongated oval links that are connected together. The links can be fine wire or heavy gauge metal. the size of the links can be just a few millimeters or a few centimeters. Cable chain is strong, and because of the open links, an easy chain from which to hang charms or pendants. Here at Elegant Insights, all of our copper and brass chain is a variation of cable chain, either a 4mm or 8mm width, depending upon which of our designs you’ve chosen. Variations of the cable chain include the use of pairs of links connected to another pair of links, referred to as a double-link chain, and other variations can consist of links in all sorts of shapes, such as triangle or square-shaped links.
When cable chain links are twisted so that the links lie flat, the chain is called a curb link. Curb chain is usually found in heavier gauges, and is frequently used in men’s jewelry. As the links are flattened, there’s lots of surface area to catch the light, making the curb a beautiful sleek chain style. Further, curb chain can be beveled or diamond-cut, creating lots of varying angles and edges from which to reflect light. For an example of a diamond-cut, beveled curb chain, see our touch of Authenticity bracelets, or our Techlace, shown below. Click to tweet this! The chain we use is about one-half inch wide, is very heavy, made of stainless steel, and is sparkly and stunning.
Another simple chain style is called a rolo link. Remember those paper chains you used to make in grade school, where you glued the ends of strips of construction paper, then connected them together to drape around the Christmas tree? My brother, now well into adulthood, made one of those paper chains in kindergarten, and it is still in one piece, well, one fragment, anyway. To this day, my mom still tenderly places it on the holiday tree. Hey, it’s a childhood heirloom. Moms get this. Those construction-paper chains look just like rolo link chain. Well, sort of.
A rolo link chain is a series of uniform sized, flattened round links that look more like links of ribbon than rounded wire. Each link is connected at a 90 degree angle to the next, so that every link faces in the opposite direction of the next and previous, providing many different angles for light to reflect off the pretty metal links. Since the individual links are usually smaller in length, but wider as well as flat, or slightly concaved, surface treatments are sometimes applied to each individual link, such as oxidation, hammering, stamping, or laser engraving, all of which create visually interesting patterns when combined in a linked-together whole. The rolo link is also sometimes called belcher chain.
The cable, curb, and rolo link chains are three examples of the most common type of jewelry chain, each perfect for hanging pendants or attaching charms. When in larger links made of heavier gauge metal, these chains are also pretty to wear on their own, or layered with other chain design necklaces to create visual interest, and plenty of style. So, to all you Cleopatras and Cocos out there, sparkle on!
Laura