Chain (jewelry)

Necklace of the Nubian Queen Amanishakheto of Kush from Meroe (around the turn of the ages ; today in the Egyptian Museum , Berlin)

Gold necklace with agate stones and attached lunula (Roman Empire, 1st century; now in the Walters Art Museum , Baltimore)

Silver ceremonial chain of the Russian Tsar's court (17th century; today armory of the Moscow Kremlin )

Henrietta Maria of France with a pearl necklace and brooch, 1660

Chains that people wear for jewelry are called jewelry chains and often consist of a series of chain links made of precious metals .

From a necklace - borrowed from French collier ; from the medieval Latin Collarium 'collar', latin collare 'Collar' to collum 'neck' - one speaks for a raised around the neck piece of jewelry such as a necklace , to the elements from other materials such as pearls , coral or gemstones can be lined up. The use of chain jewelry has been documented for cultures of prehistoric times.

Depending on where and how a chain as accessory is worn, one distinguishes between necklaces, bracelets, anklets , shoulder chains, belly chains, and for example, a Hüftketten Chatelaine from an on skirt attached watch chain or Charivari on the leather Hosenlatz . Chains that hang from a piece of jewelry or a crown are called pendilies . In addition, chains are differentiated according to the shape of their links, and are referred to as armored chains , for example .

Manufacture of metal jewelry chains

Normal chains

There are two ways of making metal jewelry chains:

handmade chains
machine made chains

In the past, all chains were laboriously and laboriously made by hand. The goldsmith had his own tools for this purpose.

A similar production principle applies to machine-made chains as to those made by hand, and it is divided into several production steps .

Assembling the alloy
Melting the alloy
Production of the wire , "wire drawing"
Setting up the machine and manufacturing the chain
Soldering the chain
Cutting the facets , "diamond coating"
Hitting the chain (optional operation)
Cutting the chain
Attachment of the end loops and closures
Final cleaning and polishing
Hallmarking

Assembling the alloy

The alloy is a well-kept secret. The only thing that everyone should know is the fineness of the alloy, that is, the pure precious metal content . Apart from the physical factors such as color, toughness / brittleness, etc., the other components also primarily affect biocompatibility. There are, for example, white gold alloys that have a low nickel content, which can lead to contrary reactions in sensitive allergy sufferers. When using certain particularly soft alloys, such as those used in large-scale productions, the color may become very reddish, which is why the chain is "gold-plated" again after production, since most markets demand yellow gold chains. This gold plating has an intense yellow (Turkish / Italian color) appearance and comes off after some time of wear. It is therefore a quality feature to manufacture so-called “alloyed” chains, which consist of a harder, yellow alloy and therefore do not have to be gold-plated.

Making the wire (wire drawing)

During the manufacture of the wire, wire gauges of 10 mm are brought down to wire gauges of less than 0.20 mm using rollers .

Setting up the machine and manufacturing the chain

Setting up and adjusting the machine is the real art of making chains. A specialist who specializes in this and many years of experience are necessary to adjust this complicated interplay of the smallest pliers, knives and guides so that a chain comes out at the end.

Soldering the chain

When it comes to soldering, a distinction is now made between flame and laser soldering . Flame soldering is based on the same principle as the goldsmith's work. A more easily liquid alloy or soldering powder is applied, and when it melts , the gap in the link closes. With more modern machines, laser soldering can already be carried out in an attached work step.

Cutting the facets (diamond coating)

“Diamonding” is the work step in which cuts or patterns are cut into the chain using rotating diamonds. Diamonding can change the look of the chain very significantly.

Deformation (chain slapping)

Some chains are deformed (pounded) to obtain their final appearance. This gives you a certain stiffness that is desired for some jewelry designs.

Finishing

For the final production, the chain is cut to the required length; End loops are soldered on and the fasteners attached. At the end, depending on the type of chain, a manual or automatic final polishing takes place, which gives the chain its shiny appearance.

Hallmarks

On the closures or the so-called end loops are also mostly punches attached. The code numbers and brand names stamped in provide information about the manufacturer as well as the precious metal fineness of the alloy.

Hollow chains

The production of the hollow jewelry chains compared to the massive ones differs essentially only in a few work steps. In wire production, a ribbon wire is wrapped around a brass core for the production of hollow chains , which then goes through the production process. This wire is etched out with acids in an additional work step, whereby the different solubility of the metals is made use of. The acid penetrates through the seam and the length of time it stays in the acid controls how much of the brass core is dissolved out. As a rule, the whole wire should have dissolved at the end of the process.

Types of jewelry chains

There are jewelry chains made of gold, silver, platinum, palladium, brass, steel and recently also made of titanium. Jewelry chains are used as a carrier for pendants or as a "standalone" piece of jewelry.