An 16" (40.6 cm) necklace is a choker length. On a 13" women’s neck it drops about 2.2" and sits on the collarbone; on a 16" men’s neck it drops 0.0" and sits tight at the throat, like a collar. Set your own neck size below to see it drawn.
Where each chain falls on a 13" neck: tap a length. Below it, chain widths are drawn at true 1:1 size: lay a chain on the glass to read its width.
1:1 chain width. Each bar is the real width; the strip shows the chosen style at 3 mm.
Sort any column, download it as CSV or print it. Click a row to show it at 1:1.
| Actions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0" | 2.7" · 6.8 cm | on the collarbone | ||
| 3.0" | 2.2" · 5.5 cm | on the collarbone | ||
| 2.0" | 1.6" · 4.1 cm | at the base of the neck, choker style | ||
| 1.0" | 1.0" · 2.5 cm | at the base of the neck, choker style | ||
| 0.0" | — | too short to fasten |
| Actions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0" | 1.0" · 2.5 cm | at the base of the neck, choker style | ||
| 0.0" | — | too short to fasten | ||
| -1.0" | — | too short to fasten | ||
| -2.0" | — | too short to fasten | ||
| -3.0" | — | too short to fasten | ||
| -4.0" | — | too short to fasten |
05 / Field guide
Where an 16" chain lands depends on the neck it goes round. Below, the drape model is run on women’s, men’s and children’s neck sizes and against the lengths either side, so you can see whether 16" or a neighbour suits you.
On a 12" neck it drops 2.7" and sits on the collarbone; On a 13" neck it drops 2.2" and sits on the collarbone; On a 14" neck it drops 1.6" and sits at the base of the neck, choker style; On a 15" neck it drops 1.0" and sits at the base of the neck, choker style; On a 16" neck it drops 0.0" and sits tight at the throat, like a collar. A pendant hangs below that point by its own height, so a small pendant on this length shows just above most necklines.
15" neck: 1.0" drop, at the base of the neck, choker style. On a 16" neck or larger a 16" chain is too short to fasten at all. From about a 13.75" neck upward, a 16" chain closes to a choker, so men with larger necks should add 2 inches.
On a 13" neck, a 14" chain drops 0.9" and a 18" chain 3.3", against 2.2" for 16". Each two inches of chain moves the low point about an inch, so if a 16" sits slightly too high, the next length down the chart, not two, is usually right.
For a child’s neck of 10 to 12 inches, a 16" chain drops 3.7", 3.2", 2.7", a comfortable length for older children.
Many chains come with a 2" extender. Fastened at the end of it, the chain is 18" (45.7 cm): on a 13" neck the low point moves from 2.2" to 3.3", and on a 16" neck from 0.0" to 1.7". Going the other way, a jeweller can shorten a 16" chain to 14" (35.6 cm): on a 13" neck that hangs 0.9" below the throat, and on a 16" neck it is too short to fasten.
A pendant hangs below the chain by its own height. On the 16" chain and a 13" neck, a 0.5" pendant ends 2.7" below the throat (on the collarbone), a 1" pendant ends 3.2" below the throat (on the collarbone), a 1.5" pendant ends 3.7" below the throat (just below the collarbone). On a 16" men’s neck the same pendants end at 0.5", 1.0", 1.5".
Against a shirt or top, the question is whether the chain shows. A crew sits about 1" down: on a 13" neck the 16" chain clears it by 1.2", on a 16" neck it hides 1.0" under it. A open collar sits about 3.5" down: on a 13" neck the 16" chain hides 1.3" under it, on a 16" neck it hides 3.5" under it. A v-neck sits about 6" down: on a 13" neck the 16" chain hides 3.8" under it, on a 16" neck it hides 6.0" under it. Necklines are averages, so check the drape diagram with your own neck size and collar.
For layering, a 14" chain sits 1.2" above the 16" and a 18" chain sits 1.1" below the 16" and a 20" chain sits 2.2" below the 16" on a 13" neck; a gap of about an inch keeps layered chains from tangling.
Questions
On a 13" women’s neck it drops about 2.2" and sits on the collarbone. On a 16" men’s neck it drops 0.0" and sits tight at the throat, like a collar.
16 inches is 40.6 cm. It is a choker length.
On a 16" neck it is snug, tight at the throat, like a collar; most men choose 20 to 24 inches.
About 1.0" (2.5 cm) below the base of the throat, at the base of the neck, choker style for most women and at the base of the neck, choker style for a man with a 15" neck.
On a 13" neck the 14" sits at the base of the neck, choker style and the 16" on the collarbone. Measure your neck and set it on the diagram to compare.