Category: Sterling Silver Chains & Necklaces
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Sterling silver chains and necklaces South Africa
The silver half of the chains and necklaces collection at Aria Jewellery Palace, made and finished in Cape Town and delivered insured nationwide. Forty pieces in solid 925 sterling silver, from R75 to R16,390.
This page covers both halves of the same decision. A chain is the metal piece on its own, bought to carry something or to be worn plain. A necklace arrives finished, with the pendant already matched to the chain and the bail sized correctly, so there is nothing left to work out. Most people arrive wanting one and leave with the other, which is why they sit together here.
Everything is solid silver. Nothing on this page is silver plated, and where a piece is gold plated over sterling silver it says so on the listing. That distinction is the single most useful thing to understand before you spend money on a chain anywhere, and it is covered properly further down.
Start with who it is for
Silver chains get bought for four different reasons, and the right piece is completely different in each case. Find yourself here and skip the rest.
| You are | Buy this | From |
|---|---|---|
| Buying your own everyday chain | A fine paper clip, belcher or rolo at 45cm, worn plain or with a pendant added later | R895 |
| Buying a gift and you are not sure what she likes | A 45cm chain, or a finished necklace so nothing else has to be chosen | R895 |
| Buying something personal | A name chain cut to your wording, or an engraved bar or disc | R950 |
| Buying for a man | A 5mm to 7mm figaro or curb chain at 55cm, or an engraved dog tag | R1,995 |
If you are still deciding between metals rather than styles, the gold chains and necklaces collection holds 46 pieces and rose gold chains and necklaces holds 11.
Plain silver chains by style
Silver is sold by weight, so the width and the length set the price far more than the pattern does.
Finished silver necklaces
These arrive complete. The pendant is already matched to the chain, the bail fits, and the proportions have been thought about, which removes the two mistakes people make most often when buying the parts separately.
Name chains and personalised necklaces
Personalised pieces are the largest group in this collection and the reason most first time buyers choose silver. A name chain in 925 costs a fraction of the gold version and it is the piece people wear daily for years.
The Classic Personalised Name Necklace starts at R995 and is the original script name chain. The Multiname Personalised Name Chain at R950 carries more than one name, which is what most mothers order. The Infinity Name Necklace and the Personalised Multi Initial Necklace both sit at R1,450.
For engraving rather than cut letters, the Personalised Engravable Disc at R1,550 and the Personalised Double Bar Necklace at R2,595 are the two to look at. For families, the Tree of Life Chain at R1,850 and the Family Tree Necklace at R2,395.
Every one is cut or engraved to your wording in the workshop, so order earlier than you would a stock chain. The full range sits in personalised necklaces, with 32 designs.
Buying for an occasion
Most of what leaves this category is a gift, and the occasion narrows the choice faster than any style guide can.
| Occasion | What works | From |
|---|---|---|
| New baby or christening | Baby feet necklace, or a small cross that will still suit an adult later | R895 |
| Confirmation | A plain or curved cross, bought small rather than large | R895 |
| 18th or 21st | A name chain, or a chain with a pendant they choose themselves | R950 |
| Mothers Day | Mama bar, Mama chain, or a multi name necklace with the children’s names | R950 |
| Anniversary | A heavier chain, or a finished necklace rather than a plain one | R1,995 |
| Leaving or travelling | St Christopher, which is what it has always been given for | R1,850 |
| For him | A figaro or curb chain, or an engraved dog tag | R1,995 |
| A milestone | Tennis necklace, or a wide solid curb chain | R6,595 |
Sterling silver, gold plated silver and silver plated are three different things. Sterling silver is 925 all the way through and stamped as such, which is everything in this collection. Gold plated sterling silver is solid silver with a thin gold layer over it, a genuine product sold at a lower price than solid gold, and always labelled as plated here. Silver plated is base metal under a silver coating, it wears through to brass within months, and it cannot be restored. Check the 925 stamp, check the weight, and check the price, because a wide 925 chain cannot cost a couple of hundred rand.
Necklace lengths, and what they look like on
Length decides everything about how a necklace reads, and it is the one measurement people guess at. Take a shoelace, hold it where you want the piece to fall, mark it and measure that against a ruler in centimetres.
| Centimetres | Sits | Best used for |
|---|---|---|
| 40cm | Around the throat | A choker look, and the top chain in a layered set |
| 45cm | At the collarbone | The default for women, and where a pendant hangs best |
| 50cm | A hand’s width below the collarbone | Higher necklines, and a softer everyday drape |
| 55cm | At the base of the throat on a man | The default for men, worn under or over a collar |
| 60cm and longer | Mid chest | Larger frames, heavy pendants, and wearing over knitwear |
Guessing for someone else? 45cm is right far more often than not for a woman, and 55cm for a man. Solid pieces can be taken in or extended in the workshop before dispatch, so tell us the length you want at checkout instead of accepting the listed one.
How thick should the chain be
Thickness is quoted in millimetres and it changes both the look and what the piece can carry.
| Millimetres | Reads as | Carries |
|---|---|---|
| 1mm to 2mm | Barely there, almost jewellery you forget | Small charms only, or nothing at all |
| 2mm to 4mm | Present without being loud. The everyday band | Most pendants comfortably |
| 5mm to 7mm | Deliberate, and the usual men’s territory | Heavy pendants and dog tags |
| Over 7mm | The chain is the piece | Nothing. Wear it plain |
The rule that saves money is to pick the chain around the pendant rather than in isolation. Hanging something substantial on a 1mm link wears the bail thin over a few years, and the failure happens quietly.
Chain or finished necklace?
Buy the finished necklace when it is a gift and you do not want to make two decisions, when the pendant has to be proportioned correctly, or when the piece has to arrive ready to wear. Nothing has to be matched afterwards and nothing arrives that does not fit together.
Buy the chain on its own when the person already owns pendants, when you want to add something meaningful later, or when the chain itself is the point. A plain 45cm belcher is a piece of jewellery in its own right and it carries anything you hang on it afterwards.
If you are pairing the two yourself, check the bail opening first, because that is what stops most pendants fitting most chains. Browse sterling silver pendants for the matching half, or the full pendants collection.
Layering silver
Silver is the easiest metal to layer, because three chains cost less than one gold chain does. It works when you vary something rather than repeating it.
Vary the length first, leaving about 5cm between each chain so all of them are visible. Vary the width next, with one fine chain against one wider one. Then vary the texture, for example a smooth omega against a paper clip. Two chains is easy, three needs the middle one to be plain.
For the effect without the effort, the Personalised Layered Disc and Bar Necklace at R2,395 arrives already spaced, so nothing tangles.
Solid and hollow
A solid chain is silver all the way through. A hollow one has a thin silver wall around an empty core, which is how a very wide chain stays wearable and affordable. The widest chain in this collection is hollow for that reason, and in solid silver at the same width it would be uncomfortable to wear.
Hollow is a legitimate choice, not a shortcut. The trade off is repairability. A hollow link dents if it is caught and is hard to repair invisibly once it splits, while a solid link can be opened, soldered and polished. If you want the widest possible chain, buy hollow. If you want a chain that gets handed on, buy solid and buy narrower.
Why silver tarnishes, and what to do
Silver reacts with sulphur in the air, and humidity, sweat, perfume, chlorine and sea air all speed it up. Coastal buyers in Cape Town, Durban and Gqeberha see it faster than inland buyers, which is worth knowing rather than worrying about.
Tarnish is surface only. A polishing cloth lifts it in minutes, and a silver dip reaches inside links where a cloth cannot. What actually needs preventing is the buildup of sunscreen, perfume and hand cream, which dulls a chain far faster than air does.
Three habits handle almost all of it. Put the chain on last, after perfume and sunscreen. Take it off before you swim. Store it fastened in a closed pouch rather than open on a dressing table, because airflow feeds the reaction. Never use toothpaste or bicarbonate, both of which scratch and will strip a gold plated finish entirely.
Silver compared with gold
| Sterling silver | 9ct gold | |
|---|---|---|
| Hallmark | 925 | 375 |
| Tarnish | Darkens, cleans off in minutes | Does not tarnish |
| Hardness | Softer, fine links wear faster | Harder at the same width |
| Resale value | Low | Holds a metal value floor |
| Entry price for a chain | R75 | R5,595 |
| Best for | Daily wear, layering, name chains and gifts | One chain kept for decades |
Most people end up owning both, and there is no reason not to. Silver for the pieces worn constantly and changed often, gold for the one that gets handed down. The gold chains collection holds 58 pieces if that is where you are going.
Buying silver online without seeing it
Three things make this safe, and none of them require you to know anything about jewellery.
Check that the listing states 925 rather than silver tone, silver finish or silver coloured, which are the words used when a piece is not sterling silver at all. Check that the width and length are stated in millimetres and centimetres, because a seller who will not commit to measurements is usually selling a chain that is finer than it looks in the photograph. And check that the piece can be repaired, since anything solid can be shortened, re-soldered and re-polished for years.
Photographs are the other trap. A chain shot on a white background always looks wider than it wears, and a 45cm chain photographed on a model with a smaller frame sits differently on you. If the proportions matter, send us a message before ordering and we will tell you honestly how a piece reads at that width.
What silver actually costs to own
A silver chain is the cheapest real jewellery you can buy, and the running cost is close to nothing. A polishing cloth lasts years. A silver dip costs less than a takeaway coffee and cleans a dozen pieces. There is no replating, unlike white gold, and no stone settings to check on a plain chain.
The one cost worth budgeting for is a clasp. Clasp springs wear out on any chain in any metal, usually after several years of daily wear, and replacing one is quick and inexpensive. Losing a chain because the clasp failed is the expensive version of that same problem, so have it checked when you have the chain cleaned.
Explore the collection
Product counts are live.
Keeping it looking new
Silver asks for about two minutes of attention a month and nothing else. A cloth made for silver brings the shine back on the outside of the links, and a dip does the parts a cloth cannot reach, which is the inside of every link and the underside of a pendant.
What causes most of the dullness is not air but everything you put on your skin. Perfume, sunscreen and body lotion collect where the metal meets you, so the habit that helps most is simply putting the necklace on after you are dressed rather than before.
Two other things worth doing. Fasten the clasp before you put a piece away, which stops the tangles that stretch fine links. And once a year, ask us to look at the clasp spring, because that small part failing is how most necklaces are lost rather than through anything dramatic.
Delivery
Free insured delivery anywhere in South Africa, including Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Gqeberha and Bloemfontein, tracked from our Table View workshop to your door. You are welcome to collect in person. Personalised pieces are cut to your wording, so allow extra time on those.
Questions
What is the difference between a chain and a necklace?
A chain is the metal links on their own. A necklace is a chain with something attached, such as a pendant, a name or set stones. Both are on this page.
Are these real sterling silver?
Yes. Genuine 925 sterling silver, 92.5 percent pure silver, stamped and solid. Gold plated silver pieces are labelled as plated.
How much do silver chains and necklaces cost?
This collection runs from R75 to R16,390. Most everyday chains sit between R895 and R3,000, and name chains start at R950.
What length should I buy as a gift?
45cm for most women, which puts a pendant just below the collarbone. 55cm for most men.
Should I buy a chain or a finished necklace?
A finished necklace if it is a gift and you want it ready to wear. A plain chain if they already own pendants or you want to add something later.
Will the pendant I already own fit?
Check the bail opening at the top of the pendant against the width of the chain. That is the most common reason a pairing does not work. Send us a photo if you are unsure.
Do silver chains tarnish?
They darken over time, faster near the coast. It is surface tarnish and a polishing cloth or a silver dip removes it in minutes.
Will silver turn my neck green?
Genuine 925 sterling silver does not. Green marks come from copper in plated or base metal chains.
Is it strong enough for daily wear?
Yes, provided it comes off for the pool and the sea. Solid 925 handles ordinary days without complaint.
Can I get a name necklace made?
Yes, cut to your wording from R950 in silver, gold plated silver or solid gold. Browse personalised necklaces.
How long do personalised pieces take?
They are made to order in the workshop, so allow longer than a stock chain, particularly before Mothers Day and December.
Can a chain be shortened or repaired?
Yes on solid chains. Send a photo on WhatsApp and we will tell you what is possible before you order.
What is a hollow chain?
A chain with an empty core and a thin silver wall, so it looks wide but weighs and costs less. It dents more easily and is harder to repair than a solid one.
What suits a man?
A 5mm to 7mm figaro or curb at 55cm, or an engraved dog tag. See mens chains for the full range.
Silver or gold?
Silver for everyday wear, layering and gifts. Gold for one piece meant to last decades and hold value. Compare gold chains and necklaces.
Do you deliver nationwide?
Yes. Every order ships free and fully insured, with tracking, from the Table View workshop to any address in the country.
Keep looking
By metal. Gold chains and necklaces, rose gold chains and necklaces and gold plated chains.
More silver. Sterling silver jewellery, sterling silver rings, sterling silver bracelets, sterling silver bangles, sterling silver earrings and sterling silver pendants.
Personalised. Personalised jewellery, personalised necklaces and personalised bracelets.
For him. Mens chains, mens bracelets and all mens jewellery.
