How to Present a Chain Necklace?

Hello Orchidians, this is my first post. I’m relatively new to the
jewelry-making business, although I’m pleased to say that my designs
are well-received and selling well. I’ve both enjoyed and learned
from the discussions on this list.

I’ve made a necklace from gold chain and diamond-shaped
mother-of-pearl beads. The chain is very fine, and tangles if you so
much as look at it in a manner that displeases it. I’d forgotten how
prone chain is to tangling. I spent an hour detangling some chain
that somehow had come loose from what I thought was secure storage
and ended up losing a couple of inches because I got so irritated
trying to straighten it out I finally just cut into the knot with my
flush cutter!

This particular necklace is a gift, but I’ve got several others I’ve
made for sale. The gift has to survive a cross-county flight and I
don’t want it tangling in transit. I’ve got the necklace taped down
to a notched card, but it’s hardly an elegant presentation and I’d
like to package it up more attractively. I’m a strong believer in
packaging with eye appeal, be it a gift or a sold item.

How does one display and package chain without it tangling up?

Best Regards,
Yvonne Anagnost
Atelier Yvonne, Jewelry Studio
http://www.atelieryvonne.com

Yvonne,

My first reaction was that if you, as the maker, are that frustrated
by the chain, how frustrated will your customers be when they try to
untangle it?! Even if you get it to them intact, will it tangle as
soon as they take it off themselves and lay it in their jewelry box?
That would be a concern for me, if I were in your shoes, at least.

In terms of transit, it seems to me that you need to make a choice
between elegant presentation and keeping the thing from tangling. The
notched card may be your only real hope of it reaching the customer
untangled… but you could experiment with necklace boxes designed
for presentation of necklaces. Some of them (the better ones) have
either built-in notches or ribbon ties that you can use to try and
keep the tangles out. (One example of these that I like is the "Coco"
style from Stuller, which has a top notch and two ribbon ties.)

Hope this helps!

Karen Goeller

Hello Yvonne,

In instances like this security always wins out over impressive
display. My customers already know how beautiful their piece will be
because they’ve had time to view it online or in a printed tear
sheet.

I always make sure that the clasp and the end of the chain are
closed instead of allowing the ends to remain loose. I then wrap the
thin chain around a slim piece of cardboard and secure that with a
silk or satin ribbon or I will secure the chain to the cardbord with
a piece of non-stick tape and then fit it into an appropriately sized
ziplock bag so that it is less likely to be jumbled around during
transit.

Hope this helps.

There are available from packaging distributors flocked foam sheets.
U-pin your chain in the gift box and cover with a foam sheet thick
enough to firmly compress the chain between the box and foam, or
compress it between two sheets if need be. I sent a complicated
necklace overseas this way and there was no problem.