Let’s begin 2008 with a brief primer on the prac­ti­cal beauty of gold and beaded chains. This new col­lec­tion by Chopard is the per­fect place to start. These pieces have a sim­ple ele­gance that eas­ily trans­lates from day job to night off. They also travel bril­liantly while on hol­i­day. Believe it or not, I don’t like to be both­ered with a lot of bejew­eled details when away, so I often find myself slip­ping on a long vin­tage chain around my neck that can be used full length or short­ened and dou­bled. I also employ it as a multi-strand bracelet by wrap­ping it around my wrist sev­eral times.

This paper clip chain in rose gold and dia­monds has a sub­tle qual­ity that makes a state­ment with­out lend­ing solid­ity. This is the kind of piece that would work equally well with casual cloth­ing or a breezy and seduc­tive dress.

When gem­stones and pre­cious mate­ri­als are used as beads, the chain retains its prac­ti­cal func­tion while still being a lux­u­ri­ous object. I love this gold neck­lace with its Tahit­ian pearls, dia­monds, and green sap­phires, it has a soft and beau­ti­ful palette that doesn’t boast, and yet, with a more for­mal look, it would serve as a fab­u­lous sautoir. When dou­bled, a sautoir’s light­hearted look gives way to a more lush one, thus giv­ing it sub­stance which of course adds an alto­gether dif­fer­ent dimen­sion to its orig­i­nal char­ac­ter.

There is noth­ing eas­ier to wear than a chain—regardless of the mate­r­ial from which it is made. Chopard has cre­ated a col­lec­tion of excep­tion­ally lovely ones, which of course are fab­u­lously high-end. The other side of the adorn­ment rain­bow has some­thing to offer too—the rules for chains apply to all. It’s just a mat­ter of find­ing a link that works for you.