Sterling Silver Italian Ball Chain

A ball chain carries a run of small spheres on a fine connecting wire, each bead free to rotate. It is the one chain where the links do not interlock at all — the beads are threaded, not joined.

Because every bead turns independently, the chain is unusually fluid and never kinks; it also throws light from a curved surface in every direction rather than from flats.

This is the only gauge we carry in this style.

Lengths run from 45 to 70 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; 60 cm sits mid-chest and wears over knitwear; 70 cm falls below the chest and layers under shorter chains.

Specification

• Metal: sterling silver (925)
• Style: Ball chain
• Lengths available: 45cm, 50cm, 55cm, 60cm, 70cm
• Finish: Polished
• Supplier reference: ICP200
• 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. A ball chain cannot be shortened by removing a link in the usual way — the connector has to be cut and a new end fitted, which is a jeweller's job. 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.