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Bulk Cable Chain
Choose from dozens of cable chain options for making jewelry. Sizes range from delicate 1.4mm cable chain to chunky 10mm links. Long oval cable chain is normally called "drawn cable chain" because it is pulled through a draw plate to elongate the links. Cable chain is sometimes called paperclip chain, or simply "clip chain". Colors and platings include sterling silver, gold-fill, black chain (gunmetal chain), copper chain, brass chain, gold plated chain, and silver plated chain. Buy cable chain by the spool for maximum flexibility in your jewelry design - use everything from long lengths to single links. (more info about the materials) Note: Unfortunately, the manufacturer of many of our favorite styles of chain has closed. Some replacements are in stock now, more will arrive soon!
About the materials:
Sterling silver contains 92.5% pure silver and will eventually oxidize (tarnish). Polish silver to brighten it back to its original shine.
Leather can contain hydrogen sulfide, which tarnishes silver and can lead to deterioration of silver plating. We recommend not using sterling silver or silver plated jewelry chain with leather cord.
Anything with sulfur (including rubber bands) can tarnish your sterling silver, so be sure to store sterling silver away from anything containing sulfur. Do not place rubber bands on sterling silver or silver plated jewelry (or even on a plastic bag containing silver plated or sterling silver jewelry).
Silver plate will eventually tarnish just like sterling silver and fine silver. Polish it to brighten it back to its original shine, but be gentle. Vigorous polishing can remove the silver plating and expose the base metal below.
White plated chain (often rhodium plated, and sometimes called "silvertone") keeps its shine longer than silver plate, but does not match the color of sterling silver as well as silver plated chain.
Gold-filled cable chain: Also called gold overlay, this precious metal chain is made by using heat and pressure to apply a thick layer of karat gold to the surface of a less costly metal. This is approximately 500x thicker than gold plate. Depending on the style, our gold overlay chain is 12 karat or 14kt with 1/20 pure gold by weight.
Copper chain: Choose from bright copper plated cable chain, antiqued copper plated cable chain, and raw (unplated) copper cable chain for jewelry making.
For more information about each style of chain, click into the product details to find out the number of links per inch, close-up images, related products and more.
Don't need a whole spool? Click the "more chain" link below to find all these styles of cable chain by the foot instead of the full spool.
