How to Layer Necklaces

To layer necklaces, wear two or three that rest at different heights, with clear skin between them. Layering looks easy on someone else and takes ten minutes in front of your own mirror. The trick is less about which necklaces you own and more about where each one sits. Once you know the few places a necklace can rest, putting two or three together stops being guesswork.

A necklace lengths guide, by where they sit

Necklace lengths are often given in centimetres, but the same chain sits differently on every neck, so we describe ours by where they rest. These are the four places to know.

• The base of the neck. Chokers and short collars sit here, high and close. The Riviera Necklace sits at the base of the neck, half baroque freshwater pearl and half 24k gold plated twisted chain.
• The collarbone. A fine chain resting on the collarbone is the easiest layer of all. The Hush Necklace sits here on a thread-fine 22k gold plated chain with four beads and no pendant.
• Below the collarbones. This is where a pendant settles when a scoop or V neck leaves room for it.
• Lower on the chest. The longest layer, usually carrying the biggest pendant, finishes the stack.

Start with two

Two necklaces are the simplest stack to get right. Put one at the base of the neck and one lower down, so there is clear skin between them. The Vesper Set works exactly this way, with a flat herringbone chain snug at the base of the neck and a pendant falling below the collarbones. Both chains go on as one, which takes the measuring out of it entirely.

The Opaline Set does the same with a beaded choker above and a fine 22k gold plated satellite chain lower at the chest. It looks tidy under a shirt collar on a workday and as easy over a knit at the weekend.

Then try three

Three layers need more space between them, so let each one sit at a different height and keep them different in weight. The Posy Set is three separate 22k gold plated chains worn together, a paperclip chain, a fine chain with a small heart and a figaro chain with a larger heart, so one heart lands near the collarbone and the other lower on the chest.

Five rules that stop the tangle

• Vary the chain. A flat or beaded chain beside a fine one keeps each layer distinct, and different textures grip each other less.
• Leave a gap. Each layer should sit clearly above or below the next.
• Put the heaviest piece lowest. A large pendant at the bottom pulls the stack straight.
• Use the extender. Several of our necklaces close with a lobster clasp and an extender chain, which lets you move a layer up or down a little.
• Fasten from the shortest out. Do up the top layer first and work down, then check them in a mirror before you go.

Match the neckline

An open shirt suits a high layer, because a longer chain can slip from sight inside the collar. A scoop or V neck has room for a pendant below the collarbones. A crew neck or a knit is the place for a choker sitting above the fabric with a finer chain laid over it.

Or start with a single fine chain

If you are not ready for a set, start with one fine chain that rests at the collarbone and add a second when you know where you like it. The Glint Necklace keeps its five clear stones gathered at the base of the throat, which leaves plenty of room for a longer chain below.

Every piece with more than one strand is in layered necklace sets, the single fine chains are in dainty gold necklaces, and the chokers that start a stack are in gold chokers. When you store a layered set, our guide on caring for gold plated jewellery explains how to keep the chains from knotting.