Sterling Silver Hammered Trace Chain

A trace chain is the finest of the flat-link chains: small, uniform oval links lying in one plane. Hammered means each link has been struck flat after forming, so the surface carries the slight irregularity of the hammer rather than a machine finish.

The hammering gives a broken, moving highlight instead of a single clean line — the look is handmade rather than machined, which is the point of it.

This is the only gauge we carry in this style.

Lengths run from 45 to 55 cm. 45 cm sits on the collarbone and is the most common pendant length; 50 cm sits just below the collarbone and clears a crew neckline; 55 cm sits at the top of the sternum.

Specification

• Metal: sterling silver (925)
• Style: Hammered trace chain
• Lengths available: 45cm, 50cm, 55cm
• Finish: Polished
• Supplier reference: HT40
• Sold as: Single piece

Sterling silver is 925 parts per thousand fine silver, the balance copper. The copper is what makes it workable — fine silver on its own is too soft to hold a form — and it is also why sterling tarnishes: the copper reacts with sulphur in the air. Tarnish is a surface film, not corrosion. It polishes off with a silver cloth and the metal beneath is unchanged.

Servicing. Fine links need a light hand; take a hammered chain to a jeweller rather than attempting a join, as heat flattens the texture around the repair. Store silver closed — a box or a zip bag — when it is not being worn. Tarnish is driven by air rather than by wear, so the pieces that sit in the open are the ones that darken first.