Fancy Gold chain 46cms length, handmade 9ct Gold English Antique, crafted around the 1880s, probably in Birmingham. In the English Antique trade virtually any chain not a simple curb link or cable link is classified “fancy”, and the above beautifully, intricately hand-worked necklace certainly falls into the Fancy Gold chain bracket.
This chain was originally probably considerably longer than 46cms, probably around 150cms; it is the sort of Gold chain that was created long in the late Victorian period, from which a lady might hang a pocket watch or a muff, a muff being a warm cylindrical covering open at both ends in which a lady might place her hands as protection against the cold.
The chain weighs 7.67 grams; its price on site as of mid 2025 is only slightly higher -about 5%- than an Italian imported machine-made 9ct Gold chain of the same weight.