Category: Personalised Necklaces

Personalised necklaces South Africa

Made to order by Aria Jewellery Palace in Cape Town and delivered insured nationwide. Thirty two designs, from R950 to R14,650, cut or engraved with whatever you send us.

Personalised means the piece does not exist until you order it. There is no stock room with a hundred names in it. You choose the design, you send the wording, and the letters are cut, formed and polished by hand before the piece ships. That is why these take longer than a plain chain, and why they are the pieces people still wear fifteen years later.

Everything on this page is part of the wider personalised jewellery range, which also covers personalised bracelets and personalised rings.

What you can put on a piece

Start here rather than with the design, because what you want to say narrows the choice faster than anything else.

You want to carry	The designs that do it	From
One name	Script or block name chains, and the infinity name	R995
Several names	Multiname chains, family trees and layered sets	R950
Initials only	Multi initial necklaces and initial discs	R1,450
A word that means something	Mama pieces, or any name design using a word instead	R1,295
A date or a short line	Engravable discs, curved bars and double bars	R1,550
A symbol with a name attached	Tree of life, joined hearts, puzzle pieces and dog tags	R1,850

The full range

Every piece below is made to order and every one is offered in more than one metal. Prices shown are the starting price, which is the sterling silver version.

Necklace	What it carries	From
Multiname Personalised Name Chain	Two or more names side by side on one chain	R950
Classic Personalised Name Necklace	One name in flowing script. The original and still the most ordered	R995
Personalised Stacked Ring Necklace	Small rings, each engraved with a name or a date	R1,095
Handmade Script Mama Necklace	Mama in a handwritten script	R1,295
Mini Swallow Necklace	A swallow, in silver or gold	R1,295
Infinity Name Necklace	A name written into the loop of an infinity symbol	R1,450
Personalised Multi Initial Necklace	One initial for each person, on a single chain	R1,450
Mini Lotus Flower Necklace	A lotus, in silver or gold	R1,495
Personalised Engravable Disc	A plain disc engraved with a name, a date or a line	R1,550
Mama Bar Necklace	A slim bar with a heart cut through it	R1,795
Mama Chain in Block Letters	Mama in a heavier block cut	R1,850
Personalised Joined Hearts Necklace	Two hearts overlapping, one name in each	R1,850
Personalised Tree of Life Chain	A tree carrying names or birthstones on its branches	R1,850
Engraved Curved Bar Necklace	A bar that follows the curve of the neck, engraved along it	R1,995
Bold Personalised Name Chain	A thicker cut letter that reads from across a room	R1,995
Personalised Dog Tag Necklace	An engraved tag. The piece men actually wear	R1,995
Designer Crown Necklace	A crown, made in silver or gold	R1,995
Personalised Name Necklaces	An alternative name cut with a different letter form	R2,195
Custom Made Puzzle Bar Necklace	Interlocking bars, one per person	R2,250
Layered Initial Disc Necklace	Two chains at set lengths, disc and initial	R2,295
Layered Vertical Bar and Initial	A vertical engraved bar with an initial above it	R2,295
Dog Tag Lords Prayer Necklace	The prayer cut into a tag, engravable on the back	R2,295
Layered Disc and Bar Necklace	Two chains already spaced, disc and bar	R2,395
Personalised Family Tree Necklace	The whole family on one pendant	R2,395
Personalised Double Bar Necklace	Two engraved bars, usually two dates or two names	R2,595
Layered Initial and Name Necklace	An initial and a full name at two lengths	R2,595
Heart Personalised Puzzle Necklace	A heart split into pieces that fit together	R2,500
Compass Necklace with Diamond	A compass set with a diamond, engravable	R2,950
Sterling Silver Heart Personalised Necklace	A double heart carrying two names	R2,995
Personalised Dog Tag Chain	The tag on a heavier chain, sized for a man	R6,750
Diamond 21st Key Necklace	The 21st key, diamond set, in gold	R12,390
Personalised Diamond Name Necklace	A name in solid gold, set with diamonds	R14,650

Silver, gold plated or solid gold

Almost every design here is offered in three metals, and the choice changes the price by a factor of ten. Choose on how long it has to last rather than on how it looks on day one, because on day one they look the same.

	Sterling silver	Gold plated silver	Solid 9ct gold
What it is	925 through the whole piece	925 silver with a gold layer over it	Gold through the whole piece, hallmarked 375
Colour over time	Stays silver. Darkens, cleans back	The gold thins where it rubs, showing silver beneath	Unchanged for life
Can it be restored	Yes, endlessly	Replating is possible but the letters are delicate	Yes, endlessly
Best for	Daily wear and gifts	The gold look on a silver budget	The piece that gets handed down
Relative price	The listed price	Slightly above silver	Several times silver

Most people buy silver first and come back for gold at a milestone. That is a sensible order of operations, not a compromise.

Wording, letters and what fits

The single most useful thing to know is that letter count changes the physical width of the piece. A four letter name and a nine letter name in the same script are two different sizes on the neck, and the longer one costs more in a cut design because it uses more metal.

Script cuts flow into each other, which suits names and looks softest. Block cuts stand separately and read more clearly at a distance, which suits short words and anything meant to be seen rather than noticed. Capitals take more width than lower case in both.

Long names are entirely possible, they simply need a longer chain so the piece sits properly rather than wrapping toward the shoulders. Tell us the name when you order and we will say whether the standard length works. Accents, apostrophes and hyphens can be cut, and so can names in scripts other than Latin, though those need to be discussed first rather than typed into a form.

How ordering works

Choose the design and the metal on the product page, then send the wording, either in the order notes or on WhatsApp to 061 408 4046. Copying and pasting the name is safer than typing it.

We confirm the wording, the letter style and the chain length before cutting. For anything complex, a family tree with several names or a piece with a date and a name together, we come back to you with a layout so you can see the arrangement before it is made.

The piece is then cut, filed, polished and finished by hand in the Table View workshop, and shipped insured with tracking. If you are close by you are welcome to collect it instead.

How long it takes, and when to order

Made to order means made after you order, so the honest answer is that these need more time than a chain off the shelf. Ask when you order and we will give you a real date rather than a guess.

Three times of year are worth planning around. Mothers Day, when the Mama pieces and multi name designs are ordered in volume. December, for obvious reasons. And the run of school year end birthdays and 21sts in November. If your date falls in any of those, order two to three weeks earlier than feels necessary.

If you have left it late, say so. Some designs are quicker than others, and we will tell you honestly which ones can still make your date rather than take the order and hope.

Layered sets

Layering two personalised pieces is the look most people are actually after when they send a photograph. The trouble with building it yourself is spacing, because two chains bought separately usually sit at almost the same height and tangle.

Four designs solve that by arriving already layered at set lengths. The Layered Initial Disc Necklace and the Layered Vertical Bar and Initial both sit at R2,295, the Layered Disc and Bar at R2,395 and the Layered Initial and Name at R2,595.

If you would rather build your own, buy the two pieces at least 5cm apart in length and keep one of them plain. Plain chains to layer underneath sit in sterling silver chains.

For mothers and grandmothers

This is the largest reason people buy from this page, and the pattern is consistent. A mother wants the children’s names. A grandmother wants all of them.

For one or two children, the Multiname Chain from R950 or the Joined Hearts at R1,850. For three or more, the Multi Initial Necklace at R1,450 keeps it wearable where full names would not fit. For a whole family, the Family Tree at R2,395 or the Tree of Life at R1,850.

If the word matters more than the names, the two Mama designs cover it, in script at R1,295 or block letters at R1,850.

For men

Men wear personalised jewellery more than the market assumes, but they wear tags rather than names. The Personalised Dog Tag at R1,995 is engraved on the face, the Lords Prayer Dog Tag at R2,295 carries the prayer with room to engrave the back, and the Personalised Dog Tag Chain at R6,750 puts the same idea on a chain with real weight.

Engrave the back rather than the front if he is unlikely to want it visible. A date, a set of initials or a single line reads as personal without announcing itself. More pieces for men sit in mens chains and mens jewellery.

Milestones and 21sts

A personalised piece suits a milestone better than a plain one, because the date is built into the object rather than remembered separately.

For a 21st, the Diamond 21st Key Necklace at R12,390 is the gold and diamond version of the tradition, and a name chain is the everyday version at a tenth of the price. For an engagement or an anniversary, the Double Bar at R2,595 carries two dates. For the biggest occasions, the Personalised Diamond Name Necklace at R14,650 is a name in solid gold set with diamonds.

Looking after a personalised piece

Cut letters have more edges than a plain chain, and that is where soap and hand cream collect. Warm water, a drop of mild dish soap and a soft toothbrush worked gently between the letters keeps a name chain looking new, and it takes about a minute.

Be gentler than you would with a plain chain. Fine script letters can bend if the piece is pulled or slept in, and a bent letter is repairable but avoidable. On gold plated pieces, skip polish, dips and anything abrasive entirely, since all three take the plating off the raised edges first.

Ordering from overseas, and why the price looks different

Search for a name necklace and half the results will be international sellers quoting a lower number. Worth understanding what that number leaves out before you compare it to anything here.

A price in dollars converts, then collects shipping, then collects import duty and VAT at the border, and the courier adds a clearance fee on top. The piece that looked cheaper often lands at a similar total, several weeks later, with a customs invoice you did not expect.

The part that matters more is what happens when something is wrong. A misspelt name cut on another continent is a shipping problem, a language problem and a time zone problem. The same mistake here is a phone call and a remake. You can also ask to see the wording confirmed before anything is cut, which is not a service that survives a template order form.

None of this makes overseas sellers dishonest. It makes the comparison unfair unless you compare landed cost against landed cost, and recourse against recourse.

Adding birthstones

Several designs take a stone as well as a name, and it is the cheapest way to make a piece feel specific to one person rather than one occasion.

The Tree of Life Chain at R1,850 carries stones on its branches, one per person, which is why it works for families where names would crowd the pendant. The Stacked Ring Necklace at R1,095 does the same thing in a smaller format.

If you want a stone rather than a name, say which month and we will confirm what is available in that colour before you order. Stones set into personalised pieces are cubic zirconia in the silver range and can be upgraded on the gold pieces, and the difference in cost is worth asking about rather than assuming.

Explore the collection

Product counts are live.

Category	What is in it	Pieces
Personalised jewellery	Everything made to your own wording	57
Personalised necklaces	Name chains, initials, bars, discs and tags	32
Personalised bracelets	Engraved bangles, ID bracelets and charm pieces	12
Personalised rings	Name rings and engraved bands	9
Chains and necklaces	Plain chains in every metal, to layer or to carry a pendant	75
Gold pendants	Crosses, keys, hearts and charms in solid gold	41
Sterling silver pendants	The silver equivalents, to add to any chain	16

Delivery

Free insured delivery anywhere in South Africa, including Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Gqeberha and Bloemfontein, tracked door to door from the Table View workshop. Collection in person is welcome. Because every piece on this page is made after you order, allow additional time before a fixed date.

Questions

Keep looking

Personalised. All personalised jewellery, personalised bracelets and personalised rings.

Chains to layer with. Chains and necklaces, sterling silver chains and gold chains.

Pendants to add. All pendants, gold pendants and sterling silver pendants.

For him. Mens jewellery, mens chains and mens bracelets.

The wider ranges. Sterling silver jewellery, gold jewellery, engagement rings and bracelets.

Or start from the Aria Jewellery Palace homepage.