Necklace Lengths: The GRIFFIN Table from Choker to Queen, and How Much Cord Each Needs

Two strands can carry identical pearls and still sit in different places: one just under the collarbone, the other resting on the sternum. The difference is length, and it is settled before the first knot is tied. This guide sets out standard necklace lengths as GRIFFIN publishes them in its jewellery standard length reference, with bracelet and ankle chain sizes for women, men, children, and babies. It then answers the question a length chart leaves open: how much GRIFFIN 100% Natural Silk or NylonPower a finished strand uses once knots,once knots, finishing, and the clasp are taken into account.

The six classical necklace terms and what each one measures

Each classical term names a finished length, measured end to end with the clasp included, and the place on the body where that length comes to rest. In the GRIFFIN reference, "Necklace" is itself one of the six terms: it describes the shortest, closely fitting style rather than necklaces in general.

The full GRIFFIN length table: women, men, children, babies

The second GRIFFIN table sizes a piece by wearer rather than by style. All figures are in centimetres.

The women's Necklace row runs from 43 cm to beyond 90 cm long because it spans every style from Princess upwards, so it reads best alongside the style table. Measure the wearer with a soft tape at the point where the piece should rest: around the neck for a Choker, around the wrist bone for a bracelet, and just above the ankle bone for an ankle chain. For children, the Choker and Necklace rows start only 5 cm apart, so a measurement taken on the child is more reliable than a size chosen by age.

Choker at 35.5 to 41 cm and where it actually sits

A Choker rests just above the base of the neck, and the tape measurement taken there is the minimum inside circumference the finished strand must reach.

Bead size changes the arithmetic. Length is measured along the centre of the beads, but the neck meets their inner edge, so a closed strand of round beads loses roughly π times the bead diameter from its inside circumference: about 2.5 cm for 8 mm pearls and 1.3 cm for 4 mm pearls. A 38 cm Choker of 8 mm pearls therefore fits like a fine chain of 35.5 cm, which is why Chokers of larger beads are made towards the upper end of the range.

The shorter necklace style, at 30 cm to 33 cm, is usually multi-strand. Each row lies on a slightly larger circle than the row inside it, so rows are graded rather than cut to one length; GRIFFIN's own multi-strand wire design steps each strand about 0.5 cm longer than the one before, gathered into 2-row, 3-row, or 4-row Multi-Strand Ends.

Princess at 43 to 48 cm, the pendant length

A Princess strand falls just under the collarbone, where a pendant has a flat surface to hang against. The pendant pulls the centre of the strand into a shallow V, so the length that matters visually is where the pendant ends up. Decide that point on the wearer, subtract the drop of the pendant and its bail, and only then choose the strand length.

The pendant also changes where the load goes. On a plain strand, weight is spread along the cord; with a pendant, the knots and drill holes either side of the attachment point carry most of it. Keep the knots tight against the beads nearest the pendant, so that concentrated pull cannot open a gap there.

Matinee, Opera, and Queen, and when a longer strand needs a stronger cord

From Matinee upwards, the strand's own weight becomes part of the design. A Matinee of 51 cm to 61 cm rests on the sternum, an opera-length necklace of 71 cm to 86 cm is the classical evening strand, and the Queen begins at 88 cm. When a long strand is lifted by its clasp, the weight of every bead hangs from the first few knots.

For pearls, extra length rarely calls for anything other than silk. GRIFFIN 100% Natural Silk is the traditional stringing material for classic pearl necklaces, and pearl necklaces knotted with silk lie perfectly on the body. What changes on a long pearl strand is the thread size: use the largest size the drill holes accept, because a larger size makes a larger knot, and a larger knot is less likely to be drawn into a worn or irregular drill hole. Knotting throughout matters most at these lengths, since a broken strand keeps its pearls and wrapped rows do not rub against each other. For an existing piece, the guide to restringing a pearl necklace at home covers removing the old thread and knotting the pearls again.

Hard gemstones, heavy beads, and metal beads are a different case. Necklaces or bracelets using hard gemstones require GRIFFIN High Performance: high-tech fibres with a specially dense molecular structure, 15 times stronger than steel, all in white colour, in sizes from No. 0 to No. 10. Sharp-edged drill holes are the usual reason a stringing material breaks, and a long strand of cut stone has a great many of them.

For coloured strands worn often, NylonPower is a specially treated nylon with double the tensile strength of conventional nylon, which stretches only 3 to 4% under tension and returns to its original length when released.

Bracelet and ankle chain lengths, including children's sizes

Bracelet lengths follow the same logic as a Choker on a smaller circle, which makes bead size proportionally more important. On a 14 cm child's bracelet, 8 mm beads take up about 2.5 cm of the inside circumference, close to a fifth of the total, so a child's bracelet of large beads must be made longer than the wrist measurement alone suggests.

The clasp counts towards the finished length. On a 17.5 cm bracelet, a 20.0 mm S-Hook Clasp with its rings takes up more than a tenth of the piece. GRIFFIN S-Hook Clasps come in 12.0 mm, 20.0 mm, and 30.0 mm lengths, and the smallest leaves the most room for beads on a short bracelet.

For children's bracelets that slip on without a clasp, GRIFFIN Jewelry Elastic Cord is particularly suitable: it can be stretched up to twice its original length and returns to its original length afterwards. The elastic cord guide for children's jewellery covers knotting and finishing with GRIFFIN Superglue.

Working out cord length: finished length, knots, finishing, and clasp allowance

A knotted strand uses more cord than its finished length, and the difference comes from four places.

1. The beaded section: The finished length minus the clasp and its rings.

2. The knots: Cord use per knot depends on thread size and on the hand tying it, so measure your own figure, mark 30 cm on a spare length of the size you will use, tie ten knots between the marks at your normal tension, and measure between the marks again. The shortfall divided by ten is your figure per knot; multiply it by the number of knots in the design.

3. The finishing: In the GRIFFIN knotting method, the thread passes through the clasp ring and back through the first three beads with a knot after each, and the last three beads are finished the same way. Each end needs the length of three beads and three knots plus the loop, with a little extra where the end knots are seated inside a Squeeze Capsule or a Bell Cap.

4. The working tail: Enough spare cord to hold the needle comfortably while tying the final knots.

A 45 cm Princess strand of 8 mm pearls carries about 50 knots, so fifty times your knot figure, plus two finishing allowances and a working tail, gives the cord it needs.

The knots at each end are glued into a Squeeze Capsule or a Bell Cap, and the guide to starting and finishing a knotted pearl necklace shows where they go. The 4.0 mm Squeeze Capsule has a thread-hole for connecting the cord directly. Bell Caps come with an open eye in 3, 4, 5, and 6 mm, and with a closed large eye in 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 mm.

Why a 2 m card limits some designs and what to do about it

Every GRIFFIN Carded Bead Cord comes on a 2 m card with a stainless steel needle attached, triple twisted so that it does not fray or tangle as it comes off the card. The 2 m card is the carded format the trade has organised around, and Choker and Princess strands sit well within it, as do most Matinee strands.

For Opera and Queen strands, the calculation above decides the outcome. Small pearls mean more knots, and more knots mean more cord: an 86 cm Opera strand of 4 mm pearls carries well over 150 knots, against about 100 for the same length in 8 mm pearls. When the total exceeds 2 m, there are three sound options.

• Build the strand in two sections joined by a second clasp, each knotted from its own card. Worn together, they reach Opera or Queen length; worn apart, they make two shorter pieces.

• For white work, use white GRIFFIN 100% Natural Silk on 2 m cards with two needles, available in sizes from No. 0 to No. 12.

• For multi-strand pieces, order bead cord cards in packs of 5 or 10 pieces, so that every row is knotted from the same size and colour.

What to specify on a trade order, and the sizes a shop should hold

A complete order line for knotted work names:

• The product line: 100% Natural Silk, NylonPower, or High Performance

• The thread size, from No. 0 to No. 16 (High Performance from No. 0 to No. 10)

• The colour, by its GRIFFIN name

• The card: 2 m with one needle, or white with two needles on 2 m 

• The pack: 5 or 10 pieces

• The clasps and findings, in one metal finish throughout

GRIFFIN clasps and findings are available in 925 sterling silver and are nickel-free, and their gold-plated versions feature 7-micron 24K gold plating; findings made of metal feature 3-micron 24K gold plating. The full range sits in the Clasps and Findings collection.

Pearl restringers step through the finer sizes, from No. 0 to No. 4, to match pearl drill holes. Gemstone strands sit mid-range: GRIFFIN's bead table gives No. 4 to No. 10 for 4 mm stones, No. 6 to No. 12 for 6 mm stones, and No. 6 to No. 16 for 8 mm stones, on a single thread. A practical core is white and black from No. 0 to No. 8, with the shop's leading colours from No. 4 to No. 10; depth in those sizes serves a shop better than breadth in colour, because a restringer matching a drill hole needs one exact size.

Direct orders qualify for volume discounts on the net value of goods: 5% from €1,000 or $1,000, 7% from €1,500 or $1,500, and 10% from €2,000 or $2,000, with free shipping above €500 or $500 net. Loyal customers, dealers, and wholesalers also receive customer-tier discounts based on yearly turnover, and trade enquiries go to service@griffin1866.com.

A printable length reference

From chart to card

Three figures decide a strand: the length it has to sit at on the wearer, the number of knots between the beads, and the cord each of those knots takes. Measure the wearer, read the style off the GRIFFIN table, then run the cord calculation before the first card is cut, and the finished piece lands at the length it was designed for rather than a centimetre or two short of it. GRIFFIN 100% Natural Silk, NylonPower, and High Performance are available through griffin1866store.com.