Short version: a Byzantine is four or more links folded back into each other over and over, so tight that the chain is close to solid metal. It's heavy, it's intricate, it holds its shape, and people have been making it this way since Constantinople was still Constantinople. Ours start at 6.5mm and 17 grams. The top one is 17.5mm, 360 grams, and costs more than a lot of people's rent. Not a chain you buy twice.
How it's made
Two links, fold two more through them, fold the first two back over. Again. Again. It's one of the few chains still done by hand at the top end because the folds have to go in order. Up close it looks a little like rope, but rope spirals and this doesn't, it's a tight repeating pattern that looks the same from any side. It's round, or square on the square one, and it barely flexes. More like a cable than a chain.
You'll hear it called a king's chain or a birdcage chain. Same thing.
Byzantine, rope, Franco
- Rope is twisted strands. Bends, sparkles, the normal heavy chain.
- Franco is a V-weave. Flatter, stiff, the pendant chain.
- Byzantine is folded links. Densest, heaviest for the width, holds its shape, the most going on up close. Costs the most because there's the most silver in it.
Rope and Franco are chains you wear. Byzantine is a chain people stop you about.
Width and weight
This is where it separates from everything else. Nearly solid, so the weight climbs fast.
- 6.5mm, 17 grams, $146 to $176. The way in. Already a substantial chain.
- 10mm graduated, 24 grams, $228 to $258. Thin at the clasp, wide at the front. More comfortable than a straight 10, same look where it shows.
- 10mm square, 298 grams, $1,885. Straight 10 all the way around, square profile. Almost a third of a kilo of silver.
- 17.5mm flat, 360 grams, $2,308. A collar. On its own, over a shirt, on someone who's made up their mind.
16 to 20 inch on the two smaller ones, 24 on the big two. It wears a little short because it's stiff and sits up off the neck.
About the price
People see $1,885 for a silver chain and figure it's a markup. It's the weight. 298 grams at that price is about $6.30 a gram, which is around what every solid silver chain we sell comes out to. A Byzantine just has way more grams in it than anything else that length. That's really all it is.
Pendants
The 6.5 and the graduated 10 carry a big pendant no problem, and they're stiff enough that it stays centered. The big two don't want a pendant and a bail wouldn't go over them anyway.
Finishes
All plain 925. We don't plate these. The pattern is the whole point and a finish would hide it, and at this weight you want to see the metal.
Taking care of it
About as tough as a chain gets. Doesn't kink, doesn't stretch, doesn't dent. The folds hold tarnish, so every so often it wants a warm soapy soak and a soft brush instead of just a cloth. Dry it well. The big ones are heavy enough that it's worth checking the clasp now and then. 360 grams is real strain on a jump ring.
Who it's for
The 6.5 and the graduated 10, anyone who wants a heavy everyday chain that isn't a Cuban. Mostly men, but it's a good look on anyone who likes weight. The square 10 and the 17.5 are for collectors. People buy those because they already know what they are.
Questions we get
Why is it so expensive?
Weight. It's nearly solid silver. Same per gram as our other chains, just a lot more grams.
Same as a king's chain?
Yes. King's chain, Byzantine, birdcage, Etruscan. Different names, same fold.
Is it strong?
One of the strongest patterns there is. Every fold shares the load. The clasp is the weak spot, not the chain.
Does it come in gold?
Not from us right now. Solid gold at these weights would be tens of thousands.
All four are in the Byzantine collection. If you want heavy but something that moves, rope goes up to 9.7mm.