Pick the pendant first, because a set already pairs the chain with it. Then decide where it hangs. Keep a small piece high in an open collar on 18 inches, or let a heavy one ride low on 24. Silver gives you the bigger look, and most sets sold here were silver. Take 14K when the piece has to last. Ask the desk what the listing leaves open.
The set: what a chain and pendant set is, a gold chain with pendant or a silver one
A set sells the pendant with the chain picked to carry it, so the bail and the link already fit. Take one when you own no chain that suits the piece. If you already wear a good chain, the men's pendants guide weighs buying the pendant alone.
Faith pieces, Jesus pieces and crosses above all, make up about two in five sets here. Logo and novelty sets follow, then animals. A title that starts SOLD OUT is a limited edition that is gone, so ask the desk whether it comes back.
The chain: Franco, Cuban, rope or moon cut chain under a pendant
Read the listing for the chain, because we never guess one for you. Where the title names the link, Franco sets sold most, then Cuban. A square Franco holds a heavy pendant steady. A flat Cuban carries the heaviest pieces. Rope hides the rub a bail leaves, and a moon cut bead chain throws light under a small piece.
Length: what chain length for a pendant, 18, 20, 22 or 24 inches
Go short or go long. With the store's pendant sets, 18 and 24 inches were bought most, close to even. Twenty inches sold least of the four.
The chain sets where the bail sits, and the pendant hangs its own drop below that. On 18 inches a mid-size pendant rests at the collarbone. On 22 or 24 it rides mid chest, clear of a T-shirt collar. Caught between two lengths, take the longer. Most sets let you choose the length on the listing, and the desk can shorten a chain or add length. Measure a chain you own end to end, or try the length finder that lives on the men's gold chains page.
Metal: silver or gold chain and pendant set, 10K or 14K
Take silver for the bigger piece, and 14K gold for the one you keep for life. About half the sets here are .925 silver. Sterling often carries more metal than the same design in gold. It darkens with wear, and a soft cloth brings the shine back.
The middle silver set lists 32.8 grams. The middle 14K set lists 10.2. Ask the desk whether a set's grams include the chain. Among the golds, 10K is harder and paler than 14K.
Stones: real diamonds, black diamond, lab-grown or natural on a pendant set
Yes, a diamond on these listings is a real diamond, and about a third of the sets carry them. Black diamond has a dark body that shines off its polish instead of throwing fire, and the black diamond cross set here sold 123 in the year.
Grown or mined, both are diamond. Grown comes from a lab, and mined is the rarer stone. Every diamond set names which on the listing, most of them natural, so ask before you pay only whether a black stone is natural or treated.