How to Guess His Chain Length Without Asking

The single most common reason a chain gets returned is length. Not the finish, not the weight — the length. It arrives, he puts it on, and it sits two inches higher than either of you pictured.

The problem is that measuring his neck is the one thing you cannot do without giving away what you have bought. So here are three ways around it, in order of how reliable they are.

1. Measure a chain he already owns

By far the most accurate method, and the least romantic. If he owns a chain he wears often, lay it flat in a straight line — clasp closed — and measure end to end in centimetres. That number is the length you want.

One caution: measure the chain, not the loop. A closed chain laid in a circle will read about half its actual length, and that mistake has bought a lot of people a 25cm choker.

If the chain he wears sits where he likes it, buy that length. If he is always tugging at it, go 5cm longer.

2. The shirt-collar trick

This is the one we recommend most often, because it works from a photograph.

Find a picture of him in a collared shirt, buttoned normally. Look at where the base of his throat sits relative to the collar. Then:

• If you want the chain hidden under a collar, you want 50cm.
• If you want it sitting just at the base of the throat, visible above a t-shirt neckline, 55cm.
• If you want it lower on the chest, over a t-shirt, 60cm.

55cm is what most men wear, and it is what we would pick if you have nothing else to go on. It works with a t-shirt and disappears under a collar, which covers most of his week.

3. Match it to his build

The least precise, but better than a coin flip. Neck circumference tracks roughly with frame, and chain length tracks roughly with neck circumference.

• Slim build, average height — 50cm
• Average build — 55cm
• Broad shoulders, or over about 190cm tall — 60cm

A heavier chain also wants a little more length than a fine one, because the weight pulls it into a deeper curve.

What we would actually do

Buy 55cm unless you have a specific reason not to. If you get it wrong, send it back unworn within 30 days and we will swap it.

Where a piece has an extender chain, you get a range rather than a single number, and the guessing problem largely goes away. Our Cuban chain runs 50cm with a 5cm extender, which covers both of the two most common sizes in one piece.

One thing to decide before you order

If you are having a piece engraved, get the length right first. Engraved pieces are made to your text and cannot be exchanged for a different size afterwards — that is true of every brand that engraves, and it is why we say it on the product page rather than only in the returns policy.

Measure first. Engrave second.