Necklaces for Women

Choosing necklaces for women: length first, motif second

It is the most useful advice on this page, and the one you hear least often. Faced with a catalogue, everyone looks at the pendant first. Day to day, it is the length that decides whether a necklace gets worn or stays in the drawer.

A women's necklace that sits too short under a closed neckline disappears beneath the fabric. One that hangs too long over an already open neckline gets lost in the middle of the chest. The motif itself barely registers from a foot away.

So start there: where do you want it to fall, and with which outfits? Everything else follows.

The four lengths, and what each one does

The choker does not hang, it holds. It sits against the skin at the base of the neck, with no drop. It underlines the line of the neck and needs an open neckline to breathe. It is the boldest of the four.

The mid length falls just below the collarbone. It goes with the most outfits, and it is the one to choose if you are unsure: it slips under a shirt collar as easily as it sits on a fine jumper. Most of our chain necklaces and pendant necklaces are this length.

The long necklace drops over the chest. It lengthens the silhouette, opens up a shirt collar, and can be worn on its own or doubled into two loops to sit higher.

The lariat or Y necklace is in a category of its own: its loop stays short, but a vertical drop runs down the middle of the neckline. It is the only shape that works lengthways.

Almost all our chains are adjustable: an extender chain lets you move from one length to another as you fasten it, with no mirror and no tools.

Shapes and materials

Faux pearl and beaded necklaces soften everything they touch and diffuse the light just below the face. Our strands are faux pearls, in acrylic or ceramic, and it says so in black and white on every product page.

Chain necklaces are the most underrated pieces in the catalogue: nothing to match, nothing to explain, just a simple line of metal that is enough to stop an outfit looking bare.

Charm necklaces are worn as they are or built by you. Our build-your-own sets contain five charms, one fitted on the central ring and four delivered loose, which you clip on and take off in a single movement. It is the most direct way to make a necklace your own without engraving.

The motifs

The heart necklace is the motif you'll find most often in our collection and the easiest to give without getting it wrong: it says something without needing an explanation.

Our beach and ocean necklaces and shell necklaces bring summer into an ordinary week: cowrie, white shell and starfish, and on the pieces in real shell, no two are ever identical.

The lucky charms, the clover and the star, carry a wish without asking anything of the person who receives them. The cross is worn for faith, for family or simply for its line, and nobody has to say which.

The celestial motifs, the moon and the sun, work alone or as a pair: the full disc against the open curve is a contrast that always holds.

And the flower softens what metal alone keeps cool.

Gold or silver: decide in ten seconds

Choose the colour you already wear, not the one that shines most in the photo.

Gold warms: it goes with beige, off-white, camel and warm colours. Silver cools and sharpens: it blends into greys, blues and black.

If you have a watch or a ring you never take off, match the necklace to it. It is the simplest and surest guide. And if you wear both depending on the day, mixing metals on two layered chains stopped being a mistake a long time ago.

A material chosen to be worn, not kept in a box

Almost the whole catalogue is made in stainless steel. It is not a default choice: it is a metal that won't tarnish on skin and won't leave the green mark that common alloys in fashion jewellery and costume jewellery necklaces are known for.

Some pieces are 14ct gold-plated; the exact finish, the length and the material of any decoration are listed in the specifications on each product page. That is what makes these dainty necklaces pieces you can wear every day.

Care in three steps

Take it off before the shower, the pool and the gym. Put on your perfume before your necklace, never after: alcohol attacks the finish and dulls faux pearls. Store it somewhere dry in its box, away from your other jewellery so nothing rubs.

Every necklace is sent in its gift box, ready to give just as it is, and no price appears inside.