HOW TO: Untangle Your Necklace Chains

I don’t know about you but one of the most frustrating things I face is having to untangle beautiful pieces of jewellery that somehow or another get into a complete tangled mess. And it appears I am not the only one – over the past few weeks, many of our Birds (that’s you!) have come up to the stand at markets and asked us the same question. Well, ask and we shall deliver! Here is your complete guide for how to untangle your gold and silver chains and save you a heap of heartache.

NOTE: It would be completely unfair of me to not even mention that the best way to untangle your chains is to not get them tangled in the first place. Keep your perfect pieces in their box, hang them on a jewellery tree or display them on a pinboard to keep them separated, neat and tidy. Always keep your chain ends clasped together to prevent them from tangling.

But if you’re already in a tangled chain mess, here’s how to get out of it…

1. Get a good-quality pair of pointy tweezers. You can grab them from most pharmacies, but they do have to be the pointy kind. For super fine chains, you can try the point of a safety pin too. This really is the big secret – you need the fine tip or point that is able to be inserted into the knot so the chain can be teased apart.
   
   
2. Get calm. Think of this whole process as mindfulness! Put your favourite tunes or podcast on in the background and take the time to focus. Don’t force any movements from here on out or you run the risk of breaking the chain. If it’s not working, take a break and come back to the job rather than rushing or forcing the point.
   
   
   
   
3. Get Started. Take the sharp point of the tweezers and gently insert them into the knot at one of the outer edges. Don’t put it straight into the middle of the knot in your chain, it won’t budge – you’ve got to start at one of the edges
   
   
4. Don’t force the tangled chain at any time – you’ve got to go slow and only go as far as the chain will let you. If you’re not getting any movement, try a different edge.
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Slowly start to tease the chain apart. If necessary, take out the tweezers and insert the point into a different section and get a little wiggle room. By this stage, you’ve got a bit of space in the knot allowing you to start using your fingers to start untwisting and untangling the chain. You will be able to see where and what needs to come apart.
   
   
   
   
6. Keep repeating the above and the chain will definitely untangle.

We love beautiful fine jewellery pieces – they’re the perfect detail to make an outfit and so on-trend right now. But with fine pieces comes fine knots and that can really ruin a special piece – but only if you let it! You’ve now got the secret and the technique to untangle your own chains, and really, if all else fails, you can always approach the team at Bowerbird Jewels at any of our Market locations and we will do our very best to help you.

Shop our range of fine, minimal jewellery online, including some beautiful gold chain pieces, here.