How to layer necklaces: the gap, the lengths and what actually tangles

The Jewellery Editor keeps a glossary entry on necklace lengths, and it puts the standard run like this: "Necklaces generally come in lengths of 14, 18, 24, 28, 34, 42 and 48 inches." The two shortest sit 4in apart, and the steps widen. That spacing is not decoration. It is the mechanism of a layered look, and what most people get wrong when they put 3 chains on and find they have made 1 thick chain.

I have made jewellery by hand in London for 22 years, from a stall on Portobello Road to counters at Liberty, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and Harrods. In that time I have unknotted and repaired more layered sets than I have photographed.

The gap is the rule

Two chains need at least 2in between them to read as two chains. At 1in they cross, touch and sit as a single band. At 2in the eye sees daylight, and the shorter one reads as a choker over the longer. So 16in with 18in is the smallest honest pair, and 16in, 18in and 22in gives 3 layers without crowding.

Then count the drop. A chain length never includes the pendant, which is why a pendant on an 18in chain can finish lower than a plain 20in chain. My Chain Guide sets out how to measure at home and what a pendant typically adds. Do that before you buy the second chain, not after.

Which chains lie flat, and which will not forgive you

Here is the part no product page tells you. Flat woven chains, herringbone and flat snake, have no give across their width. They sit beautifully as the top layer, and they are also the chains most easily ruined by layering, because a second chain lying across one puts a kink in it, and a kink in a herringbone does not come out.

Link chains behave differently. A belcher, sometimes called a rollo, has its loops set in alternating directions, which is why it twists far less than a plain cable chain. Beth Bernstein made that point about Victorian belcher chains in Back in the chain gang, published in The Jewellery Editor on 16 October 2015, along with this: Victorian chains take layering well, often with lockets and charms, while the finest Georgian and Art Nouveau links are better worn alone, without a pendant, so they are not stretched or scratched. If the fine chain in your drawer came from a grandmother, that applies to it. A chain too fine to carry a pendant is not a failed chain. It wants either wearing alone, or remaking into something you will wear, and I will tell you which from a photograph, free.

Heaviest goes longest

Weight pulls down and settles, so the heaviest chain belongs on the longest length. A heavy short chain rides up and shoves the light one aside. Set the clasps at different points round the back of your neck rather than letting them stack, because a clasp is the heaviest single part of most chains, and 3 together drag the set round to one side by lunchtime.

Bernstein's piece also records Georgian guard chains running over 50in, and sometimes 64in. Nobody wore one at full drop. They were doubled and trebled round the neck, which is the oldest version of layering and still the cheapest.

The chain I would start with

The Herringbone Chain Necklace is £180 in gold vermeil, 6mm wide and 16in long. It is the flat, liquid one that catches light along its whole length, and the piece I would build a set around, because it only works as the top layer and that settles your first decision for you.

What I notice is that people buy 3 chains of the same weight and wonder why the set looks flat. The difference is not length alone. It is one flat chain, one linked chain, and one thing with a name or a shape on it.

For the linked layer, the Belcher Chain is £45 in sterling silver, 18kt gold plated or 18kt rose gold plated sterling silver, in 5 lengths from 14in to 22in. It is the forgiving one. For a second flat chain lower down, the Flat Snake Chain Necklace is £100 in sterling silver or £120 in gold vermeil, at 16in. The Heartbeat Necklace starts at £35 in silver plated, in 14in to 20in, and carries your own heartbeat trace if you send one. And the Personalised Bar Name Necklace is £80 in sterling silver, gold filled or rose gold filled, or £450 in 14kt solid yellow or white gold, in 5 lengths, the one to pick when you want to choose your length rather than accept it.

If what you have is a drawer of chains snapped, kinked or knotted into each other, that is not waste. Those are recyclable gold and silver, and the good links from several dead chains can become one chain you wear. The second life is the real one.

Every plain chain I make is in Chain Necklaces. The pieces with a name, a letter or a date on them, for the layer that carries the meaning, are in Engraved Necklaces. And if a chain you already own needs a decision rather than a purchase, send me a photograph through Second Life Jewellery. The estimate is free and there is no obligation.

Questions I get asked

How far apart should layered necklaces be?

At least 2in, which in practice means 16in with 18in, or 18in with 20in. Any closer and the two chains touch and read as one. Remember that a pendant hangs below the chain length, so a pendant necklace needs more clearance than a plain chain of the same measurement. The Chain Guide shows how to measure.

Do layered necklaces always tangle?

No, and the fix is in which chains you pair. Link chains such as a belcher twist much less than fine cable chains. Flat woven chains like herringbone should sit on top with nothing crossing them. Keep the clasps at different points round your neck, hang the set up rather than dropping it in a dish, and put the heaviest chain on the longest length.

Can I use an old chain I have inherited in a layered set?

Sometimes, and it depends on the links. A sturdy Victorian link chain will take a pendant and a neighbour quite happily. A very fine antique chain will stretch, and once the links have opened they do not close back the same way, so that one is better worn on its own. If you are not sure, photograph it and ask me through Second Life Jewellery before you risk it.