Albert Chain Handmade Silver. Called “Albert” after Victoria’s husband who set the trend for having the watch in the fob pocket attached by chain to a vest button hole, keeping the valuable watch more secure from loss. No gentleman would be out and about without one. The sheer number of these Albert chains handcrafted in Victorian England, especially in Silver, is testimony to the increasing general wealth of the country in the Victorian era of manufacture and colonization.
The very fine handcrafted “Albert” above is a reproduction of one of the “fancy” styles of the Victorian Albert. By far the vast majority of those Albert watch-fob chains were created in the classic plain “curb” link. In the trade all types of Albert chain link not curb were fancy.
The original Victorian Albert, with the Lion Rampant stamped all over the place, is increasingly difficult to source. Chains such as the above, however, are as handcrafted and as solid and as good as those of Birmingham one hundred years ago, even without the English stamps.