Most chains and cords we sell are 18, 20, 22 or 24 inches long, and 24 inches is the length we sell most. Of the 456 necklaces, chains and leather cords ordered with a length chosen in the two years to October 2026, 385 were one of those four sizes and 114 were 24 inches. If you're unsure what men's chain length to pick, start in that range. We measure each chain and cord end to end with the clasp included, so the number on the page is the whole length.
Our sterling silver chains are solid .925 from makers in Thailand, down to the beads of the ball chains, and each one carries a 925 stamp. The weights on our product pages are ones we weighed. Our pendants are sold without a chain or cord, so this page also covers which chain fits a pendant, along with our leather cords and our leather, brass and silver wallet chains.
Men's Chain Length: The Sizes We Sell
| Length | Pieces sold, 2 years | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 18 in | 85 | 19% |
| 20 in | 94 | 21% |
| 22 in | 92 | 20% |
| 24 in | 114 | 25% |
| 26, 28 and 30 in | 45 | 10% |
| Other sizes, 15 to 25.5 in | 26 | 6% |
These counts cover the necklaces, chains and leather cords in our current catalog that were ordered with a length chosen, including 27 older orders of a pendant sold with a chain. The shares are rounded, so they add up to 101%. Wallet chains are counted separately below. The sterling chain we sell most, our 2mm sterling chain, is listed in 18 to 28 inches.
To measure chain length, lay a chain you already own flat and measure it from end to end, clasp included, the way we measure ours. No chain to hand? Wrap a piece of string around your neck where you want the chain to sit, then measure the string. Jewelers Mutual, the jewelry insurer, also measures with the clasp, and it calls 20 inches the most common length for men, ideally "at or around the collarbone area".
Need a length that isn't in the menu? Message us before you order and we'll tell you what we can arrange.
If a chain arrives and the length is wrong, we don't usually swap it for another length, because the price changes with the length. Email us, send it back unworn within 45 days of delivery for a refund and order the length you need; the return postage is yours to pay. The details are in our return policy.
Chain Width in mm: What the Number Means
The width on our pages is the width of one link, in millimeters; for leather, it's the width of the cord or braid. We measure it ourselves, and it matches the figure our makers give us. Our plain link necklace chains run from a 1mm ball chain to an 18mm Cuban, and one engraved dragon necklace has 19mm links.
Width tells you how the chain looks; weight tells you how it feels. Two of ours, weighed at the length their pages name: the wheat chain is about 19 grams at 20 inches, and the 7mm skull and bone toggle chain is 56 grams or a little more at 18 inches. A longer chain of the same design weighs more.
Types of Men's Chains We Stock, and How to Tell Them Apart
Every name below is a link we sell. The descriptions draw mainly on the chain guide of Rio Grande, the jewelry-making supplier, with comparisons from the trade group Jewelers of America and the jewelry insurer Jewelers Mutual, and we checked each one against our own chains.
| Link | What to look for | Ours |
|---|---|---|
| Cable | Plain round or oval links, each set at a right angle to the next | 2mm cable |
| Anchor (often sold as mariner) | Oval links with a bar across the middle of each | 2mm anchor |
| Figaro | One long link, then a run of short ones; ours has three short links before each long one | 2mm figaro |
| Rolo (belcher) | Round or oval links made from flat or half-round wire | 5mm and 6mm rolo |
| Wheat (spiga) | Figure-eight links packed tight, so the chain looks braided; spiga is Italian for an ear of grain | 3.5mm wheat |
| Byzantine | Pairs of jump rings linked in a repeating pattern, so the chain looks woven | 3mm Byzantine to 8mm |
| Curb and Cuban | Curb links interlock and lie flat; a Cuban typically has more tightly packed, substantial links | 7mm skull and bone toggle, 10mm and 18mm Cuban |
| Ball | Round beads joined by short bars or wire; ours are solid silver | 1mm and 3mm ball |
We list the Byzantine in five widths, from 3mm to 8mm. A 2022 review of our wheat chain says it "got a kink in it that I couldn't fix just from wearing it".
Clasps and the Connections to Check
Most of our sterling link necklaces close with a lobster clasp. The 2mm anchor and figaro chains use a spring ring, a small round clasp with a tiny spring-loaded lever. The skull and bone toggle chain, our skull-link necklaces with a T-bar clasp and the memento mori rosary close with a T-bar toggle, and the 18mm Cuban has a box clasp with a safety latch.
Jewelers Mutual calls the lobster clasp "especially well-suited" to heavy pieces and says a toggle needs tension to stay shut, so it is "not particularly secure" when you move a lot. Now and then, check the small ring that joins the clasp to the chain for thinning, bending or a gap. When a chain breaks or kinks, which doesn't happen often, we usually ask for it back and exchange it.
Will the Chain Fit Your Pendant?
A chain fits a pendant when it's no wider than the bail, the loop at the top of the pendant, can take; that's the check we make when you ask us. About half of our pendant pages state a chain width in millimeters, and on most of those it's 3 to 5 mm; the rest describe the bail in words or give the size of the bail itself.
Our pendants come without a chain or cord. The end of the chain has to pass through the bail too, so check the end ring or end cap along with the links. On our leather cords the silver end caps are the widest part: about 3.5mm on the 3mm cord and about 4.5mm on the 4mm cord, so the bail has to clear the caps as well as the leather.
Guitar pick holders are pendants too. Ours, like the dragon claw pick holder, take standard picks, and every one comes with a pick.
Our Leather Cords: 3mm or 4mm
The 4mm braided leather cord is the necklace we sell most: 114 in two years, against 60 of the 3mm cord. Both are braided leather with .925 silver end caps that are crimped on and glued, and a .925 silver clasp comes attached. Both come in 18, 20, 22 and 24 inches.
Keep them dry. The Canadian Conservation Institute notes that most leathers are damaged by direct contact with water, so we suggest taking the cord off before a shower or a swim. A 3mm buyer summed up the fit: "comfortable and cant even feel it on your neck." All our cords are in leather necklaces.
Wallet Chains: Leather, Brass or Silver
Wallet chains are the biggest part of our chain sales: 585 sold in two years across our current designs. Leather leads by a long way.
| Material | Designs | Sold, 2 years | Length | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braided cowhide | 9 | 430 | 23.5 or 25.5 in | — |
| Solid brass | 9 | 99 | 23 to 24 in | 110 to 279 g |
| Sterling silver | 27 | 53 | 21 to 24.5 in; one design also 26 and 30 in | 110 to 300 g |
| Silver-plated brass | 1 | 3 | 24 in | — |
The leather chains' pages list no weight, and we're re-weighing the silver-plated lion head chain, so those two cells are blank. Every length is measured end to end with the hooks. One buyer of the 23.5-inch red and black chain wrote that it "needs to be a good foot longer"; if you like a long, low loop, our 25.5-inch leather chains are the longest leather ones we sell.
How to Wear a Wallet Chain
A wallet chain, sometimes called a pocket chain, clips to a belt loop at one end and to your wallet at the other. Most of our customers run it to a wallet in a back pocket.
The leather chains end in a metal hook at each end, and three reviewers have called those hooks small. One suggested a 1-inch split ring, like the ones on a key ring. Our suggestion is the same: clip the hook to a key ring and the ring to your belt loop or wallet. We don't supply the ring with our leather chains.
Brass is copper and zinc. It can darken over time, and copper alloys can leave a green mark on skin; we haven't had a customer report either from our brass chains, like the 160-gram dorje chain. A brass chain of the same size and construction also weighs less than a sterling one, because brass is less dense: about 8.4 to 8.7 grams per cubic centimeter, against about 10.4 for sterling. One design, the lion head chain, is silver-plated brass, and its page says so.
Where one of our wallets has a grommet for the chain, it's .925 sterling silver, as our exotic leather guide explains. Browse every design in wallet chains.
Care: A Cloth, and Keep It Dry
For light tarnish, our sterling chains need little more than a polishing cloth. Tarnish comes from sulfur gases in the air, mainly hydrogen sulfide, as the Canadian Conservation Institute explains, and every jewelry order ships with a silver polishing cloth and a drawstring pouch. Silver polishing cloths generally carry a mild abrasive, so use light pressure on the raised silver and leave the darkened recesses alone.
If your chain is oxidized, darkened in the recesses, that black can fade slowly with long wear, in our experience. We suggest taking the chain off before a shower, the pool or the sea. Our silver care guide goes further into cleaning oxidized silver.
Start with a men's chain length from the table, check the bail if a pendant is going on it, and find your chain in necklaces, or in our wallet chain range if it's for a wallet.