How to layer necklaces so they tangle less
Layered necklaces tangle most when two of them are the same length. Space the lengths out and mix a fine chain with something heavier, and they tangle less.
In this guide
In photographs, layered necklaces sit in neat tiers: a short chain at the throat, a pendant at the collarbone, something longer below. On a real neck, two of them often end up twisted together. The difference is rarely luck. It is the lengths, and to a lesser extent the weights.
Where each length sits
Chain length is the number that decides how a necklace looks on you. Roughly, on an adult neck:
| Length | Where it usually sits |
|---|---|
| 40cm | At the base of the throat. |
| 45cm | On or just below the collarbone. Both 45cm pendants below sit here. |
| 50cm | Below the collarbone. |
| 55 to 60cm | Lower on the chest, over a crew neck. |
Treat those lengths as a starting point. A wider neck or broader shoulders take up length, so the same 45cm chain sits higher on one person than another. If you own a necklace that sits where you like it, measure it from end to end, clasp included, and use that as your reference rather than the table.
Space the lengths about 5cm apart
Two chains of the same length don't stack. They lie on top of each other, and they tend to twist together as you move. A difference of about 5cm from one length to the next is enough to keep them apart, and it happens to be the step the Rose Gold Cable Chain Necklace comes in: 40, 45, 50, 55 or 60cm.
Give a pendant more room than a plain chain. A pendant hangs below the chain it is on, so if the next chain is only 5cm longer, the pendant ends up sitting on it. Under anything with a drop, make the next chain 10cm longer.
Mix the weights, not just the lengths
A good stack usually mixes at least two of these three kinds of necklace:
- A plain, fine chain. The Rose Gold Cable Chain Necklace is the obvious one here: a thin cable link in 925 sterling silver with a plated finish, and the colour options are Rose Gold, 14K Gold, 18K Gold, Champagne and Rhodium, though Champagne is not offered in every length. It is the layer that fills a gap without competing with anything.
- Something with texture. The Rice Pearl Choker is freshwater rice pearls of 6 to 7mm on a 925 sterling silver chain, in 40, 45 or 50cm, and its page describes the length as adjustable without saying by how much, so measure it when it arrives. A strand of pearls looks different from a fine chain, so it works as a top or middle layer next to one.
- One focal pendant. The Sterling Silver Pearl Necklace is a round pearl with a subtle zircon detail on a 45cm chain, in 925 sterling silver. The Bubble Initial Necklace is a pavé cubic zirconia letter, A to Z, in silver colour on a 45cm chain.
Keep it to one focal piece per stack. Two pendants fight for the same space on the chest, and the heavier one drags its chain into the other.
Pieces without a stated length
Not every page gives a number. The Star Tassel Choker Necklace is titled a choker, in gold or silver colour, and its page gives no length, so its name alone doesn't tell you where it will sit. The Crescent Moon Necklace, in 925 sterling silver, doesn't state a length at all.
Both can go in a stack. If you are building one around exact lengths, pair them with pieces whose lengths you know and adjust the gaps around them once they arrive.
Starting from a necklace you already own
If you already own a necklace you wear all the time, start there. Measure it end to end, clasp included, and build around that number. If it is a 45cm pendant, the easy additions are a 40cm layer above it and a 55cm chain below it, 10cm longer to leave the pendant room. If it is a plain 40cm chain, it can sit at the top, with a 45cm pendant under it and a longer chain below that. The point is to fill the gaps around the piece you have, rather than buy a set and hope your own necklace fits into it.
Three stacks to start from
| Top | Middle | Bottom | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plain and simple | Rose Gold Cable Chain, 40cm | Sterling Silver Pearl Necklace, 45cm | Rose Gold Cable Chain, 55cm |
| Pearl and initial | Rice Pearl Choker, 40cm | Bubble Initial Necklace, 45cm | Rose Gold Cable Chain, 55cm |
| Short and boho | Star Tassel Choker | Rice Pearl Choker, 45cm | Rose Gold Cable Chain, 55cm |
In the first two, the chain under the pendant is 10cm longer than the pendant's own, and no two layers share a length. In the third, the Star Tassel Choker's page gives no length, so try it at the top and check where it lands against the pearl strand. If the tassel lands on the pearls, use the Rice Pearl Choker at 50cm and the cable chain at 60cm.
Mixing silver and gold
Mixing metals is fine, and it matters much less than mixing lengths. If you want it to look deliberate, repeat each colour at least twice in the whole outfit, so a single gold chain among silver reads as a choice. The cable chain's range of finishes makes that easy: the same chain in its Rhodium and 18K Gold finishes, at two different lengths, gives you a mixed stack, and a matching earring or ring repeats each colour.
Keeping them from tangling
- Put them on shortest first, so you can see each one settle before the next goes over it.
- Turn the clasps to the back of your neck after fastening. A clasp that has slid round to the front drags its chain across the others.
- Mix at least one heavier layer in, such as a pendant or a strand of pearls, rather than three fine chains.
- Take them off in reverse order, one at a time, and fasten each clasp before you put it down.
- Store each necklace on its own, in the pouch it arrives in, never in a heap in a dish.
- Take the stack off to sleep. A night of turning over is a reliable way to knot them.
If a knot does form, lay the chain flat on a table and work it loose with two pins from the middle outwards, rather than pulling on the ends, which only tightens it.
The necklaces collection has every chain, pearl and pendant in one place, with each length on its page where the maker gave one.
